Two Parables About Asking - 21

I'd like you to turn, if you would, in your Bibles tonight to Luke chapter 11. We're going to look at two passages of scripture, two short parables with a similar theme. We'll begin in Luke chapter 11, and I will begin to read at verse 5 down through verse 13. Luke 11 verse 5, And he that is Jesus said to them, Which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves? For a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him. And he will answer from within and say, Do not trouble me.

The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. I say to you, Though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you.

Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And then later in Luke's Gospel, chapter 18. Luke 18.

And you will no doubt detect the common theme that we are going to be addressing this evening. Luke chapter 18, beginning at verse 1. Then he, again Jesus, spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, Get justice for me from my adversary. And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Then the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said, and shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears along with them.

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? I'd like to begin by asking you a question. As you come under the burden to pray and engage in the matter of prayer for whatever need, and you continually bring that need before God, and you do not receive that which you're asking for, what do you conclude?

Where do you point as to where the problem lies? Are you quick to question yourself and your motives? Are you more inclined to examine your own life and wonder, Am I praying correctly? Am I praying with right motives?

Am I praying in the will of God? Or do you begin to entertain suspicions concerning God, doubting God, suspecting that God is being reluctant, God is being tight-fisted, God is withholding some good from you? Are you suspicious of God, or are you suspicious of yourself?

That's an interesting question to ponder. I fear sometimes we're more inclined to bring God under our suspicion than we are ourselves. The hymn writer, hymn that we often sing, particularly on a Wednesday night, Behold the Throne of Grace, Behold the Throne of Grace, the promise calls us near to seek our God and Father's face who loves to answer prayer. Are you convinced of that tonight, that our God loves to answer prayer? Or are you of a mind, our God is reluctant to answer prayer? He is slow to answer prayer. Are you convinced that he loves to answer prayer?

I think the evil one causes us to have undue suspicions of God about these matters. Perhaps you're aware of the story of George Mueller, the man who lived in the 19th century and founded an orphanage and lived a life of prayer, trusted God for unbelievable needs and provisions for that orphanage and for his life and his own ministry, and saw God provide in miraculous ways. The story is told that Mueller had two friends that he grew up with and come under the burden for their salvation. And it is told that Mueller prayed for the conversion of these two friends for 60 years. Now I've heard it said he prayed every day for 60 years, and he may have prayed every day for 60 years, but I'm in my own mind thinking, hmm, every day sounds a little bit like maybe an embellishment, but again, I don't know the facts. But he was under the burden to pray for these two men for their conversion for 60 years.

Now 60 years is a long time. And toward the end of his earthly ministry, George Mueller, he saw both of these men converted, the story goes. One became ill and on his deathbed, professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the other, and they say that perhaps it was one of the last public ministries that George Mueller conducted was the funeral service for this first friend. And then within a year, this other man was converted. Now that's a story of, an example of perseverance in prayer. And one wonders, how does someone pray for 60 years about something and not draw the conclusion after a while, a year, two years, five years, or ten years, perhaps God is not interested, is not of a mind, does not will to save these two men and to give up. Prayer has its challenges, doesn't it?

It's a difficult subject. We do not know how our prayers relate to the sovereign, eternal counsels of God. We often do not receive what we're asking because we ask for the wrong motives, James chapter 4 and verse 3 says. On other occasions, we believe we are asking with the right motives, but still we do not receive what we are requesting. There are some people who have the mind that it is a lack of faith to pray for the same thing more than once. God has heard it.

He has promised to answer and to pray again and again and again is a evidence of unbelief. Now that's an interesting take on things. What do we say about that?

Well, I'm sure there's a good bit to say about that. The Bible says that the fervent prayer, earnest fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. That certainly seems to imply ongoing prayer.

But one thing comes to my mind and that is the Lord Jesus in the garden. We're told that he prayed not once, not twice, but he prayed three times that this cup, the cup of God's wrath might pass from him. So, did God the Father hear God the Son the first time?

Is that why he needed to? So the fact that Jesus prayed three times is enough for us to say no. It wasn't a lack of faith for Jesus to ask three times and neither is a lack of faith on our part to continually ask and beseech the throne of grace. Well tonight I want to consider two stories, two parables with you about prayer.

They're short and they have basically the same message. The first is in Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11 verses 5-13. And it's about a man who had a friend who came to him late at night after a journey. And he wanted to feed his friend something but he had nothing in order to set before him. So he went to a neighbor and his neighbor happened to be a friend and he asks, friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come on a journey and I have nothing to set before him. And that's verses 5 and 6 of Luke chapter 11.

His friend did not want to be bothered. He'd already gone to bed and yet the petitioner kept insisting, knocking at his door and eventually the man got up and gave him bread. And the parable that Jesus teaches here and there's emphasis here, he gave him bread not because he was his friend but because of his friend's persistence. And then Jesus gives us this principle of perseverance of prayer and he legitimizes the continual ongoing repetition of prayer in verses 9 and 10 of Luke chapter 11 where he says, So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. And that is an imperative, it's a present imperative and the sense in the verb tense is to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.

Persistence in prayer. And then Jesus compares God the Father to a human father. And he says there in verse 11, If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? And then he says this in verse 13, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? That's the parable.

We'll come back to it. I just wanted to walk you through it, get familiar with it and then we will look at the main point that ties these two parables together, that of perseverance in prayer. The second parable there in Luke chapter 18 is the parable of the unjust judge. There was a judge who was unconcerned with giving justice. A widow in his town who had been unjustly treated and who had no husband to plead her case kept coming to him with the cry, Give me justice against my adversary. And the parable that Jesus gives here tells us that the judge refused the request for a long time, but at last he gave her what she wanted, reasoning.

Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not persist in her request. And then the Lord draws this conclusion. Will not, this is verse 7 and 8, shall not God avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him though he bears long with them?

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Now, again, both of these short parables teach the importance of perseverance in prayer. But, before we look at this a bit more, as we seek to learn and understand, there are several important matters in the broader context that we need to consider, because I think failure to consider these things has led to misunderstanding of what Jesus is teaching.

So first, and there are three things here that I want to consider with you in the broader context that will help us in our effort to understand the Word of God correctly. The parable does not, the first one, does not teach that God has gone to bed and is reluctant to get up and meet his children's needs. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. Now, that may be true of Baal.

Remember 1 Kings 18-27, where Elijah was taunting Baal, the Baal worshipers, the prophets of Baal. Perhaps he's asleep and must be awakened. No, our God is very much alert and awake and mindful of the needs of his children.

He's ever watchful. Secondly, God is not an unjust judge. The comparison is not of likeness, but of contrast.

That's important. The comparison is not of likeness. It's not God is like this unjust judge, but God the Father is being compared with this unjust judge. And when Jesus says, we are evil, he says in the first parable, it's again the contrast. Not that God is evil, but we are evil.

Again, the comparison is one of contrast. So if we who are evil will give in response to the persistence and the persistent asking for something, will not God give good gifts to his children? How much more will God give since he is not at all evil or reluctant? And again, the point of the second parable is that if even an unjust judge will give justice because of a person's persistence, how much more will God who is not unjust, but rather acts in perfect righteousness and in perfect justice?

So let's be clear about two things. God is not unjust in any way. The God of all the earth will do right.

Whatever my God ordains is right. He is just in all of his dealings. And God is not absent. He is alert. He is mindful.

He is not asleep. He is the omniscient God of the universe. Secondly, these parables do not teach that the privilege of prayer is for everyone. On the contrary, prayer is for God's children only. And that comes out in both of these parables. The first, more obvious, a little more subtle in the second, but let me show it to you. In the first parable, the person to whom the petitioner goes to is his friend. He's not a stranger.

It's his friend. And when the Lord applies the parable, he speaks of God as your Father in heaven. Now, God is not the Father of everyone. We see the same thing in the second parable.

In it, there is no indication of any special relationship between the widow and the judge. But when Jesus applies the parable, he makes clear what the limitation is by the term, his elect. Notice with me, verse 8, I tell you that he will avenge them.

Let me see. No, verse 7. And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them. So, these two parables, as well as other teachings of the Lord Jesus, cut to pieces this false doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God. They teach that God is not the father of all men. He's the creator of all.

But he is uniquely the father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he becomes the father only of those persons who believe on Christ. Jesus taught this very forcefully in John's gospel. You recall on one occasion, he had some who thought they were God's children, when in fact, they were actually children of the devil.

Jesus had been in Jerusalem, and he'd made this statement in John chapter 8 in verse 32. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. The Jews who heard him say that answered him, we are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.

How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus responds to them, I know that you are offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me. If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.

And at that point, the people grew angry and accused Jesus of being illegitimate. The Lord replied, if God were your father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say?

And then he gives the answer, it is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. You see, Jesus put an end forever to this misleading and false doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God. All men are not children of God. There are two families and fatherhoods in the world.

There is the family of Adam into which all are born, and there is the family of God into which some are reborn by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The third consideration here is we are thinking about context that is going to set the stage for us to understand and not misunderstand these two parables on prayer. The third thing is that these stories do not teach that we can pray for anything at all and know that God will give it, no matter how long we pray, no matter how persistent we pray. Now, if we take these two parables out of the context, they may seem to teach that, that if you just are persistent enough, you will wear God down, he will give in reluctantly and give you what you ask. On the face, it seems that that's what's being taught, but that is not what is being taught.

And let me explain why I strongly believe that. The first parable there in Luke chapter 11 follows immediately upon Luke's version of the Lord's prayer. You remember the disciples wanted to be taught how to pray, and Jesus instructed them, when you pray, say, and we have this model prayer that you're very much aware of. And this model prayer is a guide for us to be helped in our praying toward the Lord. The petitioner first comes to God as his Father. Father, hallowed be thy name. So he comes acknowledging God as Father. Second, desires that the name of God might be honored. Third, comes seeking the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Then fourth, prays for what daily provision, forgiveness of sins, deliverance from sin, and that not merely for himself but for others also.

And then following that, the parable of the friend who comes to another friend is given. In other words, the context, the model prayer, limits the kind of things for which one might be inclined to pray. We'll not be praying anything that's contrary to God's honor, anything that's contrary to his kingdom.

At the best it will be for spiritual blessing, and even that will be for others as well. And in the request itself you see the echoes of this model prayer. The plea to the friend, lend me three loaves, clearly picks up on the earlier petition.

Give us this day our daily bread. So again, the parable isn't teaching that if we just pray long enough and hard enough and persistent enough, God will give in and give us what we want. No, our prayers have got to be consistent with this model prayer.

We need to be praying in the will of God, not selfish prayers, not praying amiss. The second parable is the same. Here the context concerns the delay of Christ's return at the end of the age.

At the end of chapter 17, before we read the parable in chapter 18, 1-8, Luke 17, 20-37 is concerning Christ's return at the end of the age. And the plea of the widow for justice is parallel to the believer's prayer for Christ's return. The teaching is that He will return even though the event itself proves to be a long way off and that in the meantime, Christians are to continue to pray, to persevere in prayer. Nevertheless, come Lord Jesus.

Maranatha. So that's the context and that helps us I think from misunderstanding what Jesus is teaching. So having considered those three contextual issues, qualifications, we now turn our attention back to the matter of perseverance in prayer and ask this. For what then are we to pray? For what are we to pray? What can we pray for and know that God will eventually give it even though His granting of the request may be delayed?

For what things should we persevere in prayer? There's a lot that can be said in response to those questions. But let me give you two categories. First, there is the category of things that are clearly spoken of in scripture to be the will of God for us. No question about it. No ambiguity about it.

We know this is the will of God. Category number one. Category number two are things that are not explicitly stated as God's will for us as individuals or for any other particular point in history or for nations. Nevertheless, things that are generally conformed to God's desires. So let's think about these two categories. Category number one.

What things would be in this category? Well, many of the desires of God are disclosed to us and for us in scripture. Often, God's will is expressed in principle.

John chapter 6 and verse 40 is an example. That verse can be called the will of God for all unbelievers. And it says, my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life and I will raise Him up at the last day. If you're listening to me tonight and you are not a Christian, this is priority number one. This is the will of God for you. The will of God for you is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to the saving of your soul. And there's no point going any other place until that matter is settled. To be asking God for this, that, or the other thing is irrelevant.

This needs to be settled. And this is the will of God for every unbeliever. That is, that they might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter 6 and verse 40. And we could have a long, long list of scriptures that give biblical principles that make clear what the will of God is for us and to encourage us in our prayers. And few things will encourage us to persevere in prayer more than knowing that that which we are praying is indeed the will of God.

No question about it. Here's one for Christians. Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 where Paul says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be transformed into renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the perfect will of God. Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. That is the expressed will of God for every Christian. Every Christian can accept as an unchangeable principle the truth that anything that contributes to holiness and the surrender or renewal of the mind is an aspect of the will of God. And anything that hinders growth and holiness and pollutes the mind is outside the will of God.

That should be very clear to us. There are hundreds and hundreds of promises in the word of God. And who are they meant for? Well, they're meant for the people of God, for the children of God. They've been secured for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul could say as he begins that letter to the church at Ephesus, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.

Every blessing's been secured for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. So a Christian may lay claim to the promises for they are certainly the will of God for his life. James chapter 1 verse 5 says, if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him. And again, these promises all have to be understood in their context. Asking God for wisdom is in the context of various and sundry trials.

So what are we asking for in that context? We're asking for wisdom, the ability to understand the will and mind of God in the midst of this trial that he has sent, this difficulty, this calamity. What purpose does God have? And we can pray and ask him for wisdom. And if we're a Christian, one thing that's absolutely crystal clear and without controversy, what is the will of God? The will of God is for you to respond in such a way that it produces and incentivizes your growth in Christ Jesus, that you surrender and submit to God in those purposes.

Here is another. Do not be anxious about anything. Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 and 7.

Be anxious about nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. God wills that you have peace even in the midst of calamity and he promises to give it to you if you lay your request before him. That's from God.

And again there's many, many more that we could point to. Paul says over in Thessalonians, this is the will of God, even your sanctification. And in that context he's talking about moral uprightness, moral purity.

Now we come to that second category. What about things that are in general conformity with God's desires but for which we have no explicit promise that they will be true for us? What about George Mueller's friends for example? There was no explicit promise in scripture that those two friends of Mueller's or anyone else's for that matter are necessarily going to be saved. What about this fifteen or twenty year exercise in persevering prayer for Stuart Waugh and this liver transplant? Did we know that this indeed was the will of God for him? I mentioned Wednesday night that I really doubted whether this was going to come to fruition. And I wasn't doubting God, I was doubting the people who were in places of authority who were making the decisions whether he was going to have it or whether he wasn't.

And it seemed like they were running out the clock on him. But it was indeed the will of God for him to have a liver transplant because he's received it. And we have persevered in prayer about that matter for years. So again, was Mueller right to persist in prayer for his friends? Was he going beyond scripture? Was he presuming to change the mind of the all wise God who perhaps would not have saved those two friends of Mueller's had Mueller not prayed for them?

Well, here we must be careful. On the one hand, we know that James says, you do not have because you do not ask. You do not have because you do not ask, James 4 and verse 2. That seems to say that we ought to ask and keep on asking. On the other hand, we know that the very next verse says, when you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives. So, it's a challenging prayer.

So, this is a bit subjective, but it's helped me. If you find yourself under the burden to pray, wanting to pray for something, but again, that's not explicitly promised in the scriptures, but God has burdened you to pray and the burden persists and you continue to pray. I find encouragement that God is in that, that we should continue to obey the Spirit's prompting and continue to pray, believing God, trusting that he has wise and gracious purposes in his delays.

And as we do, I think we'll find that our confidence in God grows. And again, there's more that could be said, perhaps on a Wednesday night prayer service, we'll delve into this a bit more. But I wanted, as we're considering this series on the parables, there were two parables that had the same theme. They were short and I wanted to address them. I didn't think, I didn't feel comfortable having a series on the parables and ignoring these two short parables that Jesus gave that teaches the importance of perseverance in prayer.

Thus, we're treating them tonight. But what is it that we can engage our hearts in? Well, one I would like to challenge us about is the matter of praying, persevering in prayer for the matter of revival.

Revival. Jesus said in the gospels, look under the fields for they're ripe on the harvest. Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into his harvest field. So there's two things that if we're going to pray about anything, we need to be praying about God's will to raise up and send workers into the harvest field and to pray for revival in our land, in our churches, in our own communities, in our own lives. The great awakening under Jonathan Edwards began with his famous call to prayer and it was carried forth by prayer. The work of God among the North American Indians under the ministry of David Brainerd began in the nights Brainerd spent in prayer for God to move in the hearts and lives of the American Indians. In the 17th century, a revival began in Ulster, Ireland that eventually spread throughout the whole country.

How did it begin? History tells us it began with seven undistinguished ministers who committed themselves to pray regularly, fervently, and persistently for revival. The same was true of the Wesleyan revivals. At the time of Wesley and Whitfield and their ministries, England was in a state of spiritual darkness. But a small group of believers began to pray and God heard their prayer and sent a revival that transformed England and even spilled over into the new country.

Can we not have that today? I don't know the mind of God, but if God moved in the past in this way in response to prayer, persistent prayer, prevailing prayer, and again we can't twist the arm of God, we can't force God, we can't command God, but it seems to me the conditions of our country warrant seriousness in prayer, that we ought to be beseeching the throne of grace and asking God to have mercy and to visit us with true Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit-wrought revival. So have we nothing to pray about? Who can tell what God may do as a result of our prayers and the prayers of others whom He calls to this work? James 5 verse 16 tells us that the fervent and effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Let us pray. Father, we thank You for the truth that we've considered tonight, that You do exercise us in this manner by not giving us our request immediately but moving upon our spirits that we might persevere in prayer, continue to believe You, continue to ask You, and to have our prayers shaped by and informed by the Word of God and motivated and moved by the Spirit of God who lives within. So Lord, move upon us, bring renewal, bring revival in our land, and encourage us in this most sacred and important discipline of the Christian life, the matter of prayer. Thank You that Your eyes are indeed upon the righteous and that Your ears are open unto our cry. Thank You for the innumerable answers to prayer in the past that encourage us to keep on praying and the reminder that You who spared not Your own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall You not freely with Him give us all things? So may we not be guilty of failing to ask in believing prayer. Move us in that our God, honor our requests, stir our hearts in this holy endeavor, we pray. Now to you who dwell securely under the shadow of God's throne and who know the sufficiency of God's arm, may you be active and in sharing your faith so that you have a full understanding of every good thing that we have in Christ, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.