Meeting Jesus - A Black and Blue God
There seems to be an acceptance within Christian culture that PRAYER is the LAST RESORT for followers of Jesus. You may have heard the statement, “When all else fails, pray.” That statement suggests that PRAYER is a last resort. It indicates that those who focus on prayer in a specific area have given up, failed, and thrown in the towel. They have stopped trying. That statement suggests that PRAYER is for those who have failed and lost, not those who are victorious…
It is for those who do not want to try any longer. That prayer is for those who do not want to try any longer. But that is not what Jesus teaches about prayer. Those with the courage to pray as Jesus teaches, demonstrate they will never give up.
Luke 18:1-8 (NLT2)
1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
Let’s make sure we understand what PRAYER is. We know that prayer means communication with God. Prayer is bringing our requests and listening. But in this passage, the Greek word that LUKE uses he also used over 18 times in the Gospel of Luke:
Proseuchomai
There are two parts to this word:
pros = toward, facing, before
euchomai = speak out, utter aloud
The word for prayer means directly facing the LIVING GOD and Speaking to HIM. So, understand, this means that when you speak to God when you pray:
PRAY DIRECTLY FACING THE LIVING GOD
When you pray, you are not whispering into your Bible. You are not talking to yourself. You are not mumbling incoherently or rambling on into nothing. When you pray, you directly face the MIGHTY KING OF KINGS and pour your heart out to him.
As you humbly speak directly to his face:
Submit to Him.
Confess to Him.
Plead with Him.
Praise Him.
Thank Him.
Even though the men who followed Jesus had seen firsthand the power of prayer in Jesus' life, Jesus still understood that they would be tempted to give up and stop praying. If the truth were told – you and I probably relate to that. Followers of Jesus still fail to talk to God like we should. We sometimes give up praying for days, weeks, and months at a time. I believe one reason we give up praying is because, often…
HABITS AND GUILT PREVENT BOLD PRAYING
Habits and guilt prevent bold praying. Have you ever noticed that bad habits are hard to break, but good habits are hard to start?
Bad habits like:
Eating a Family size bag of chips during Monday Night Football…
Pressing the elevator button repeatedly because you think it will come faster.
Pretending to be on a phone call to avoid a conversation.
Habits that are bad for us are hard to break. But habits that are good for us, like exercising or prayer, take much work to start. Once we break the daily habit of prayer, it is difficult to start again. But you can do it! You started it once before; you can do it again. Guilt can prevent us from praying as well. Some feel bad because of a particular sin, but rather than talking to God and admitting it was wrong, some fear the consequences and shut down their communication with God. Then, when they do pray, their prayers are shallow because they haven’t been genuine and honest with God.
I have been there. Sometimes, my prayers have not been genuine and honest with God. If I get angry with God because life gets more challenging, I may shut down my communication with him or pretend I am not angry with him or about the situation. That’s when I pray something like, “God. You are awesome, and I am so grateful for everything I am experiencing now.”
That’s a lie. I am not grateful for the difficulties. I hate them. I don’t want to walk through them. I want God to change my circumstances and get me out of the mud and the mire of life! So, because I lie to God about how I feel, I begin to feel guilty, and my prayer life begins to erode. Can you imagine that? Standing up, facing God directly in prayer – and lying to his face. When I was a child, I was an excellent liar.
I lied to my parents about everything. I lied and accused my brothers and sisters of things I had done wrong. At school, I lied and denied lighting the pack of firecrackers and dropping them under the bleachers during the assembly. I lied because I was afraid of the consequences.
When we were younger, we lied because we did not want to experience the consequences of the truth. We were fearful of punishment. But you can be honest with God about everything in your life because God’s anger and wrath over sin was poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross.
If you have tried to deceive God and lied to him, tell him.
If you feel guilty over sin and dumb actions you have taken, tell him.
If you are angry with him because life has been hard, tell him.
Begin the conversation with something like this:
“Sorry, I haven’t spoken with you much. I have been avoiding you a bit. I don’t want to do it anymore. Let’s talk.”
Pray through the guilt. Pray through the anger. Pray through resentment. He is FOR you. Finally, my favorite part of Jesus’ teaching on prayer:
PRAY AS THOUGH YOU COULD WEAR GOD OUT
Luke 18:4-5 (NLT2)
4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’
In Jesus’ day, there was no “Blind Justice.” Judges were known to accept bribes of money or land when making decisions and settling disputes. Since this Widow had nothing to bribe the Judge with, the Judge was uninterested in hearing and resolving her case. So, the widow wore this judge down with her persistence. When he looked out his window in the morning, she was there. When he walked into the town square, she was there. When he went out to dinner with his family, she was there. Requesting his help, asking for justice, pleading her case. Everywhere this man turned, this woman was there, and like a boxer, she would jab him with her request for justice. How do we know that?
In verse 5, when the Judge says, “This woman is wearing me out,” the Greek phrase is hypōpiazō.
It means to beat black and blue, intolerable annoyance
It was a colorful expression describing the widow's persistence and annoyance. He went to the market…she was there. He went to his home…she was there. The t-ball game, the basketball game…she was there. The judge finally yielded because of HER persistence. She was “beating him until he was black and blue with her annoying persistence.
Jesus teaches us as his Followers to WEAR OUT GOD in prayer! Jesus provided this colorful expression to drive the point home to pray hard, often, and persistently.
A boxer does not expect to knock his opponent out with shots to the ribs…but repeated jabs will wear out his opponent. Jesus wants us to pray like a boxer going for the ribs of his opponent of our requests! Keep throwing jabs and prayer requests. Keep calling out to him. Keep praying to him. Keep on asking. Pray as though you must wear down God to get an answer. Face God directly in the ring and plead your case.
Jab, and ask God to heal your mother with cancer.
Jab and ask him to bring HOPE to your child.
Jab and ask Him to HEAL your marriage…
Jab and ask Him to HEAL your parent's marriage…
Jab and ask him to turn your teenager back to the heart of Jesus.
Jab and ask God to rescue the addict.
Jab and ask God to come near you.
Jab and ask God to deepen your prayer life.
Jab and ask God to create genuine WORSHIP within your heart.
Jab and ask God to fill this worship center with people who need Jesus.
Keep going to God…
Keep jabbing at God…
You might think, 'But Pastor, can we do that with God? Can we keep jabbing at Him? Won't we hurt or wear Him out with our constant requests?' Trust me, you can keep on jabbing, but you can never hurt God. He is the Almighty, the Everlasting, and the All-Powerful. Our persistence cannot wear him out. When we pray, we are engaging with the God who can move mountains, who can heal, who can provide, and who can change our lives.
So, don’t go to your corner of the ring when you’re tired.
Keep asking him for that promotion…
Keep asking him to provide for your family…
Keep asking him for WISDOM…
Keep asking him for strength…
Keep asking him for ENDURANCE….
Keep asking him to move MOUNTAINS!
God WANTS you to pray like you could make him tired and wear him out!
So, let’s be a people who will pray like Jesus teaches us to pray.