The Most Unanswered Prayer

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”-Luke 18:1 (NKJV)

The book of Luke Ch. 18 begins with the story of a widow who approached a judge demanding justice in a dispute she was having with an adversary. This particular judge neither feared God nor did he care about people and although this widow came to him repeatedly for help; he continually ignored her pleas.

The widow however was shameless in her persistence and continued to come and make her case before this unjust judge; until one day:

“The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 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!”-Luke 18:4-5 (NLT)

As I read this story again this week, I realized that the most unanswered prayer that we face is the the one that we give up on. It is the prayer that we have been bringing to God, over and over, and eventually stop because it is yet to be answered. Why do we stop? The answer is simple, we lose heart!

How many prayers have you given up praying because the answer to your prayer did not come in the time frame or manner in which you expected? When we have a need that we take before God in prayer, typically we start off with a lot of passion, expectancy, and faith. However, as time goes on, for many the passion wains and expectancy plummets as their faith slowly diminishes.

Soon we believe that God’s silence on the subject is His final decision and we reluctantly move on with a prayer life that is now jaded. Now we spend more time hoping God will answer our prayers rather than believing by faith that He will. We lose heart, because we begin looking at God through the lens of our dissatisfaction. Let’s get real for a moment. How often does your perception of God change based on His lack of response? Ultimately, how we perceive God will influence how we pray! If we see God as being uninterested or unjust our prayers will be lackadaisical; lacking any persistence or drive.

However, when we base our perception of Him on the Word of God and Christ’s sacrificial death of the cross; we are not moved by the supposed silence, but are driven by what we truly know about God’s character.

The lesson of this parable is not that we can, in someway, badger God into answering our prayers. You are never going to wear God down, so to speak, with your constant prayers. If what we are praying is just and right, then we can come continually with confidence to God with our request:

“Then the Lord said, “Learn this lesson from the unjust judge. 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? 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?”-Luke 6-8 (NLT)

If this unjust judge, who neither feared God or cared about people, ultimately through this widow’s persistence granted her justice; how much more will God, who loves us, grant our requests? This woman faced off with a man that could have had her imprisoned or killed. She knew he had an unfavorable opinion of her but she was relentless in her pursuit of an answer.

Why would would be any less persistent in pursuing God in prayer when His disposition  towards us is so much more favorable? Knowing God’s nature and character we ought to be relentless in with our prayers!

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

Before they were Christians (Pt.2)

(Part 2)

“Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” -Acts 11:25-26

Those who eventually became known as Christians in Antioch had something interesting in common; they had all been discipled. For an entire year they assembled with other believers and were taught by the Apostle Paul. This commitment to the doctrine of Jesus Christ garnered them more than just an education; but also a reputation.

Those who observed these disciples recognized from their speech, behavior, and beliefs that they were becoming more and more like Jesus:

“A disciples is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.”-Luke 6:40

Daily they were growing into His likeness. The same is still true today, if you will focus on being a disciple; soon you will be identified as being like Jesus. People will recognize your faith by what they see and hear, not by what you try to make them believe about you.

So how does one become a disciple of Jesus Christ? True discipleship always begins with repentance and forgiveness of sins; we must turn from those things that separate us from the presence of God and receive the gift of forgiveness offered to us by Jesus on Calvary’s cross. We must confess that He is now Lord of our life and identify with His death, burial, and resurrection through water baptism.

Disciples then live by the Word of God:

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”-John 8:31

Disciples look to God’s Word for direction; understanding that His Word is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”-2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Disciples strive to live in unity and love one another:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another”-John 13: 34-35

Finally, disciples lead fruitful lives:

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples.”-John 15:8

Remaining connected to Christ will produce a lifestyle that glorifies God and causes others to glorify Him:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”-Matthew 5:16

The word Christian was never intended to be used as a designation, but rather as a description. To those in Antioch a Christian was a proven disciple of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church

Before they were Christians (Pt.1)

(Part 1)

“Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many  people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”-Acts 11:25-26.

If Acts 11:26 teaches us anything it is that you cannot be known as a Christian until first you have become a disciple. A friend of mine, commenting on this passage made this observation:

“Before they were Christians, they were disciples. Before there was a label, there was content. Before there was identification, there was substance.”-Pastor Mark Russell

It is worth noting that the disciples did not call themselves Christians, but rather they were labeled as Christians by those, who, upon observing their lives derived that they were more than believers in name only; but rather were a people who subscribed to the teaching and lifestyle of Jesus Christ. They were not observed as being religious, like the Pharisees or Sadducees. Instead they were recognized as becoming more like Jesus Christ; and because of this were labeled as Christian.

Unfortunately the word Christian has lost much of it’s significance. Being a Christian, today, has become a label we use to differentiate ourselves from atheist and other religions. We have generalized the word Christian so much that many people believe they are “saved” or “right with God” based solely on the fact that they identify as being Christian; although they have never repented of their sins and have made no real confession of faith in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus never intended for us to become Christians. In fact, when Jesus commissioned the apostles in Matthew 28 he told them:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”-Matthew 28:19-20.

  

Go and make disciples Jesus told them! The world will never recognize you as a Christian, if Jesus does not first recognize you as one of his disciples.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church