Luke 18:1-8
Why do we feel like giving up?
Not making a difference
We live in a time where people are giving up on marriage, jobs, family, church and themselves.
The reason is we are placing our identities on our careers/job, family, possessions, and not on Christ. In other words, we base our worth on success.
In this scripture Jesus shares that we should pray and not give up and the two are perfectly connected or maybe I should say divinely connected, because they are instructions from God Himself. This woman had been shafted by someone in the town she lived in and she wanted justice. In her society women of course did not have the rights as women have now and apparently the judge she kept going before regarding this matter kept rejecting her plea for justice. Finally, the judge can’t handle her continual pleas, so her grants her request and she is victorious in her pursuit of justice. This story deals with justice as well as prayer, but I want us to examine prayer this morning.
What we need in our lives is a spiritual breakthrough, not a mental meltdown.
Why do we feel like giving up?
We have no hope
This week in the News Herald there was an article that stated that suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in America
Among 15-24 year olds, suicide ranks as the #3 leading cause of death
Why? We are placing our lives at the mercy of being happy and fulfilled and not finding what we are looking for.
So what do I do when I feel like giving up?
Learn to pray with focus and intensity
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
How?
Concentrate on Christ
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6 NIV
Be bold when you go to God in prayer
And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ Verse 3
Make prayer a priority
The type of prayer that God answers.
1. It’s a prayer of conviction. It’s a prayer of conviction of who God is. It’s conviction that God is a just God, a great God, in control. He wants to hear me. He wants to answer my prayers. It is conviction acknowledging who God is. This is what praise is all about. Praise is bragging on God.
2. It’s a prayer of confession of what I am and who I am. “God, I’ve blown it. I’ve made mistakes and I’m imperfect.” Be very specific.
3. It’s a prayer of confidence in what God has promised. “I know who You are, I know what I am, I know what You’ve said.” God said it, I believe it — that settles it! If God said it, that settles it, whether I believe it or not. Claiming God’s promises. The promises are the keys that unlock the answers to prayer. You’ve got to learn those 7000 promises.
4. It’s a prayer of commitment. “I’m willing to be part of the answer. God, You can use me. I commit myself. I’ll be part of the solution.”
Understand where your identity lies
“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:11-13 NIV
Your identity is not found in your job or career
Your identity is not found in your spouse or children
Your identity is not found in possessions
All of these will let you down
Your identity is found in Christ!
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 NIV