Surprised by God’s Willingness to Listen, Part 2

Today on Summit Life, J.D.

Greer says, Just Ask. The story that Luke 18 is comedic for its hyperbole. God, the hyperbole, God is not like an unjust judge and we're not like an anointal widow to him. The Lord's Prayer opens up with the word daddy. The man in Luke 18 was an unjust judge. Our God is a tender father.

She is in a court of law. We are in a court of grace. Happy Friday and thanks for joining us today on Summit Life with Pastor J.D.

Greer. As always, I'm your host, Molly Vidovich. Okay, so when someone asks, what's the point of prayer? There are probably a couple of ways that we could answer, but today on Summit Life, Pastor J.D. Greer reminds us that God really is listening to us and prayer does in fact change things. It's a lesson on the purpose and power of a bold prayer life and it's part of our teaching series titled Kingdom Come.

Pastor J.D. is opening to the gospel of Luke chapter 11 to reveal how to overcome the hurdles to a satisfying prayer life. Now grab your Bible and a pen and let's return to the book of Luke. Luke chapter 11, let's begin in verse 1. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished one of his disciples said to him, Lord teach us to to pray. So the first thing that he does is he teaches them the Lord's Prayer.

That's his first response back to that. Now we're mostly today going to skip the Lord's Prayer, not because I don't think it's important, but because I want to get to the parable that's after that and then another place in Luke, but I do want you to notice one word that's in there because this kind of guides everything else he's going to say about prayer. It's the very first word of the prayer. Father. Father in English almost sounds a little formal. I never called my father father. I called him daddy and that word father there in the Greek it transliterated from the Aramaic that's what it meant. Abba. Abba meant daddy. It's what a little kid called their their father and he says that's how you're going to pray to God like he is your like he's your daddy like he's your daddy.

All right. Then he teaches them this parable. Watch this verse 5. And he said to them which of you has a friend who will go to him at midnight and say to him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey and I got nothing to set before him and he will answer from within do not bother me the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed I cannot get up and give you anything.

Verse 8. I tell you though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend yet because of his impudence. It's a great word. Some scholars say that word could really be translated annoyingness. Because of his annoyingness he will rise up and give him whatever he needs. Here's the point. Jesus says this man gives the bread to the man not because he's his friend.

In fact after this event he's probably not his friend anymore. He gives this bread to him because of his boldness and his persistence and his impudence and his annoyingness. Verse 9. So I tell you ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everybody who asks receives and the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks it will be open. Verse 11. What father among you if his son asks for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent or if he asks for an egg will he give him a scorpion if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father the ultimate daddy how much more will he give the holy spirit to those who ask him now there's some really important stuff in there that we're going to come back to but go ahead real quick and flip over to luke 18 he told him a parable now to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart verse verse two he said in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared god nor respected man and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying give me justice against my adversary for a while he refused but afterwards he said himself 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 beat me down by her continual coming then jesus says unbelievably this is like praying to god now the point of course is that god is not like an unjust judge god is a tender father which is what he's already established right but the point is if even an unrighteous selfish judge will grant answers because of persistent asking won't god who cares about us as a tender father who is the ultimate standard of justice won't he give us what we ask if we come to him so let me make several important observations from these parables about prayer in your life number one prayer actually changes things prayer actually changes situations in this story luke 18 the woman asked and then she asked again and then she asked again and then again and again and again and then the situation changed now i've got questions about that i'm like if it was god's will why not say yes the first time i don't know i don't know but this passage shows you that some outcomes are dependent on our prayers and not just prayer but bold persistent continual prayer all right second thing this passage teaches us about prayer number two we desperately need the mercy of god and it is abundant we desperately need the mercy of god and it's it is abundant both characters in these stories are desperate the man in the story has no food the woman is desperate for justice she realizes there's something that she cannot do that this judge is going to have to do for one of the things listen that keeps us from praying is the subtle belief that we are not absolutely dependent on the mercy of god to get things done if there is one thing that is core to american culture it is our attraction to techniques and best practices elise fitzpatrick one of my my new favorite authors wrote a book on parenting that's getting ready to come out called give them grace and in this book she talks about the fact of how many books there are written by christians on parenting most of which are pretty good that are giving you true biblical principles on parenting but she points this out i think this is this is a game changer for veronica me she says most of them point out that if you will just follow these principles they're laying out from the bible these books pretty much guarantee you that your kid's going to turn out fabulous she said well first of all think about that god is the perfect father right and a third of the angels rebelled against him god made one human adam and eve or two humans adam and eve and both of them rejected him so do you really feel like you're going to out technique god is that what it is that you feel like your perfect parenting is going to guarantee perfect children then she says that the danger with thinking there's a foolproof way of parenting is that it keeps us from casting ourselves at the feet of jesus and looking to him for his mercy in our kid's life which is where our hope really needs to lie most of us put our hope in our parenting techniques which we learned from the bible but we put our hope there as opposed to in the mercy of god she brings up this passage in first peter five you don't need to turn there um i'll just summarize it for you but first peter five says this humble yourself in prayer under the mighty hand of god so that at the proper time he may exalt you casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you peter goes on to talk about the trials that these believers he's writing to are going to go through but then at the end he says don't lose heart watch this because the god of all grace will himself restore confirm strengthen and establish you god of grace will do this in you peter tells them he said don't put your hope you they need to endure in persecution he's like don't put your hope to endure in persecution in how much scripture you memorized don't put it in the tightness of your small group don't put it in how awesome your preacher is don't put it in your bible knowledge your hope to endure in persecution is in the god of grace throw yourself simply upon the tender gracious care of god my hope for my children is not in my parenting skill not even in the skills i learn from the bible my hope is in the grace of god who will himself raise them up god yes listen god uses means and he uses parents like you and me right and that's why i'm so fastidious or studious and studying what the bible says about these things i understand at the end of the day i hope in god's mercy not in my skill i thought about this recently when i started thinking about i just had this thought i was like what if i what if i died you know i got four kids now what if i died and i know that you know the damage that can happen when if kids grow up and they don't have a daddy to look to and so i i have this it's kind of a strange conversation with veronica i'm like listen i just need you to know that if i die i want you to try to get married again in like six months because i want my my my i want my girls and my little boy i want them to have a godly daddy and so i mean the moment that funeral is over you get on e-harmony or whatever it's going to take and you find you another man and i was actually i mean i'm kind of joking i'm kind of serious because i just you know i was just thinking like how are they gonna how are they gonna you know if i'm gone how are they going to be raised up to to know and love god and i felt like in the middle of this conversation i was praying about it's like the holy spirit just completely rebuked me he's like you're sitting around worrying about this like you're their only hope why don't you put this in my hands because i can probably be a better father than you can be and they're better off in my hands than they are even in yours so yeah as long as i'm with them i want to be god's instrument i play an important role but at the end of the day i'm hoping in the tender mercy of god not in my skill in parenting if like the holy spirit just put that on my heart and said you're hoping and you you're acting like you're their hope when i'm their hope plus you know veronica is never going to be able to find a guy to equal you so just you know we're just that's a joke that's a joke the point is no technique no skill is sufficient for us to lean our weight upon listen you seminary students you divinity school students our intelligence and your godliness are not enough to ensure that you develop right theology so you really ought to throw yourself on the mercy of god and say god i will choose the wrong things to believe unless you guide me you can't guarantee your dating life will be solid no matter how many accountability partners you are no matter how many people you have speaking into your dating life you can't guarantee a good marriage no matter how well suited e harmony says you are for each other or how many marriage books you've read no matter what it is your hope is in the mercy of god no skill not even biblical skill is sufficient you need the mercy of god the irony is the two things that keep me most often for brain one is my reformed theology right the beliefs about god's sovereignty the other is my and the other is my skill in ministry those are the things that keep me from praying how ironic is that because those are the things i've prized most of them spent most of my life pursuing we understand that prayer is how god enacts his will and that we desperately need the mercy of god and what this gospel of luke shows you is that that mercy is abundant the love of god is deeper and wider and richer than we ever realized it flows around us and over us like a river you can never get to the bottom of it you can never underestimate it people can't get in the presence of jesus without him gusting out tenderness and help for those who call on him you're listening to summit life with jd greer we hope you've enjoyed this series in the book of luke and that it's been an encouragement in your daily walk with god before we head to the finish line i wanted to remind you about a resource that can also help you stay connected to god's word throughout the week our daily email devotionals written by pastor jd offer insightful reflections on the bible and practical applications for your life each day's devotional corresponds to our current teaching series here on the program as well so you can stay plugged into the themes and ideas we explore here even if you miss a day and best of all it's completely free so to sign up simply visit jdgrier.com slash resources and enter your email address to begin receiving them right away thank you for your financial support that makes this resource and the rest of summit life possible it's because of friends like you that we're able to proclaim the gospel each day to a dying world now let's finish the week strong once again here's pastor jd luke 18 is comedic for its hyperbole god the hyperbole god is not like an unjust judge and we're not like an anointing widow to him the lord's prayer opens up with the word daddy the man in luke 18 was an unjust judge our god is a tender father she is in a court of law we are in a court of grace she was a stranger we are beloved children she had no access we have a way made open by the very blood of jesus she had no friend in court we have as our advocate jesus christ the righteous she had no promise or guarantee we have the promise of the gospel the judge we approach is not one who doesn't fear god or respect justice but one who stripped himself of his place and position and died in our place to restore justice so we can be forgiven let me ask you this do you approach god like that do you approach god with that sense of his tenderness i read a biography few years ago by a guy named charles spurgeon or about a guy named charles spurgeon spurgeon was a 19th century british pastor and he um spurgeon had this thing about him whenever he would pray for people this is a little story tucked into this biography and i almost missed it but a little story it just said that whenever people would come to him in his congregation to pray for him one of the things he would frequently say when he was praying for somebody that was in pain somebody was in a broken relationship is he would look them and look up at god and he would say god when my children are in pain i can't bear to see them suffer it hurts me god i don't how god could you look at your child i know you're a better daddy than i am and and not get involved in this situation tender father heavenly father can you work in this situation because you're a better daddy to your children than i would be to mine you know listen charles spurgeon was not a silly name it claim it theologian who taught that god's will was that you always get well and never get sick but he was in touch with the tenderness of god and i'm saying that maybe you and i have lost something because when we approach god we have lost a sense that he really is the jesus that walks through the pages of luke who is as tender now as he was then and we approach him like a daddy who feels our pain and cares as much for us as we do for our children the other night i was putting my kids down to bed and uh i thought it was done had everybody all three of them all three girls sleep in the same room their choice and they're all in the same and i thought i was out it's always kind of like you know okay i'm gone and i was about to walk out and i hear from the top bunk i hear this little sob and i was like ah so i go back in and i'm like what is it ali what is it these are her exact words that come out around no introduction to these words this is what comes out how do i know that jesus won't forget about me when i die i was like what how do i know that jesus won't forget about me when i die i had to keep myself from laughing i was like um well i was like ali i'm your daddy right right would your dad you think daddy would ever forget about you and she hesitated way too long in answering that question and eventually she said yes and i said well jesus is the ultimate daddy and of course he would never forget about you you're his child in fact isaiah 49 15 and 16 says he's engraved you on the palms of his hands so even if he did forget about you which he couldn't because he's god even if he did he's got your name on his hands god is a daddy that would never forget you not that most of you probably don't lay in bed like that and sob at least won't anybody hear you but i'd say there's a question that same question that some of you have is like how do i know that god hasn't forgotten about me how do i know that god cares about the situation how do i know that it's not talking to deaf ears he is a tender father who who cares and when you understand that tenderness it changes how you pray yes it's another direction what would our prayers for our city look like if we really believe that jesus cares much about sinners as the gospel of lu shows us that he does what would happen if you really believe that jesus loved the people that you work with and the people that are in your family the people that are here in our city as much as the gospel of luke shows you that he does i would suggest you that our prayers would fundamentally change what if we're not trying to persuade god to save people what if jesus really measured for us his compassion for lost people by the cross what if he measured the power he could bring to bear in their life by the resurrection and what if we prayed with that knowledge it's because isaiah 59 one and two say the lord's arm is not shortened that it cannot save his ears not heavy that it cannot hear it means god is no less compassionate than he ever was god is no less powerful than he ever was it's us who just don't understand his tenderness and add the wave of our faith to the wave of his will to create the exercise of his power on earth that's what it is i told you before that one of my defining moments of my life happened on a beach in southeast asia when i was standing at the very place where a wave tsunami wave 70 feet high came and came and destroyed a hundred thousand people and i asked god god why why would you send this kind of wave and not a wave of salvation there's all those moments where i felt like the holy spirit spoke to me not audibly but just as clearly and said i will i will send the wave of salvation that's why you that's why your people that's why your church that's why you're in this area because you are here to believe me and to pray and to add the wave of your faith to the wave of my will so that through your prayer and your faith i will release a wave of salvation into this place our prayers would look fundamentally different if we really believed that if we did how could we not pray and cry out to god day and night we know god's willing we know it don't we and we know that god gives some things only through persistence bold prayer there's a verse in james 5 that is one of my favorite verses on prayer it says elijah was a man just like you and me and he prayed and god shut up the heavens for three years and then he prayed again and god opened it up and just about drowned the place and the phrase that i love is that he was a man just like you and me because growing up i always saw these bible heroes and something fundamentally different elijah david moses you know i mean we always had them on the you know the flannel graph you mean anybody tracking with that you know the little felt figures that are dancing across the place and i thought those guys are just totally different than me and what james tells you is no those guys are just like you they have the same weaknesses they have the same questions they have the same struggles they got up every morning and put on their loincloth just like you put on yours every morning and they're just like you they're just like you and they prayed because what they understood was that there was a great god who wanted to release his power on earth and they weren't fundamentally different they just understood god differently than you and i understand god and if we would pray like that we would see his power pour out in and through us how guilty will we be church if god would have done things in our city in our world but we just never asked him let me give you three and four real quick i don't have time really to go into them that deeply but number three we pray trustingly like children we pray trustingly like children this is so important give me a second the whole point of this is that we relate to god like a father go back to verse 11 in chapter 11 what father among you if a son asks for a fish will instead of a fish give him a serpent or if he asks for a set egg we'll give him a scorpion now again any of you ever do that your kid asking for something to eat you hand him a snake no right all right how about this what what what if your kid asked for a scorpion huh do you give him a scorpion then no and hopefully you didn't need to know that but if you're a father then you sometimes overrule your kid's request because you know more than they do and jesus is saying we approach god like a father not like he's a genie and that's totally different i mean genie if my kids really got a hold of aladdin's lamp and were given three wishes i would flee the country as quickly as possible because they're likely to turn you know the clouds and the cotton candy and the ocean and the orange soda which can't be good for the ecosphere they would destroy the planet and so sometimes the father overrules in their life because he knows more than they do here's another great statement for you to write down and talk about your small group look look at this god sometimes answers our prayers by giving to us what we would have asked for had we known what he knows which may mean that sometimes it may look like he's not answering our prayers but he's actually answering them like a father not like a genie and you have to trust that listen to pray like a child also means listen that you don't base your understanding of god's feelings about you on whether or not he answers your prayers the way that you think that he should because a child understands children are used to being overruled children have an implicit trust that their parents love them some of you come from really good families a bunch of you come from mediocre families some of you come from really bad families but one thing that's true of all children in every family is that all of them at the beginning have an implicit trust in their parents that their parents love them it's only when they get older that they you know begin to question that so a child when they're young is used to asking their parents for things and just assuming that they love them the reason i point that out is because we got a number of people in church who think who base how god feels about them on whether or not he's answering their prayers the way that they want him to does that make sense number four our greatest petition is for more of the holy spirit that's what this passage teaches you our greatest petition is for more of the holy spirit you see the last verse in chapter 11 verse 13 if you who are evil know how to give good gifts won't you have any father give the holy spirit don't miss this listen the holy spirit is depicted as the ultimate answer to any prayer god won't give to some of you exactly what you're asking for but what he is going to give to you is more of god we're dispelling myths about god like the false notion that god is some kind of grouchy judge in the sky and when we study the bible we learn that that's just not the case he's ready and even eager to answer our prayers if we'll just ask you're listening to pastor jd greer on summit life in addition to these daily messages we've also made other resources available on our website like sermon transcripts and blog posts that will help you get started with your prayers transcripts and blog posts jd i know it's always your goal to develop fresh engaging resources that help our friends go deeper into the gospel yeah you know molly the longer we've had a chance to do this one of the things that that we here at summit life love is having this archive it has become a full and rich resource that has a lot of things that will will help you in not only your walk with jesus but also in the in the people in your family or your friends there's a lot of resources on there you may find yourself um recommended to somebody else going through a situation we'd love for you to check that out just go to jdgreer.com and you'll you'll you'll find a whole bevy of resources there acquaint yourself with what's available to you we make them all free of charge and by the way let us know if god's at work in your life through this ministry or if there's some answer to prayer we would love to rejoice with you let let us know how god is using um these messages in your life in your family or in your community let us know how he's at work we love love love hearing from our listeners so go there to jdgreer.com and send us a note we'd be honored to receive your gift of 35 or more to this ministry and to say thank you we'll send you a copy of kingdom come 20 devotions from luke to give simply call us at 866-335-5220 or you can always give online at jdgreer.com i'm molly vidovich join us next time as pastor jd digs deeper into one of the most confusing things jesus did commanding people not to talk about the things he had done here are the reasons why when you tune in monday to summit life with jd greer today's program was produced and sponsored by jd greer ministries