Pray. Talk to God.

---

Jesus strongly encourages us to pray persistently, to continually call for help until the Father responds.

Read Luke 11:5-13 for context, and then focus on verses 8-9 below:

“I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  Luke 11:8-9 (ESV)

Depending on your bible translation you may see  persistence, impudence, or importunity.  The Greek word, Strong’s word G335, means importunity or impudence which is considered "offensively bold, shameless, and without discretion."  The man finally gets up and gives the bread to his friend, not because of their friendship, but because he is annoyed, and he wants to go back to sleep!

Jesus is telling us to pray with impudence (bold, and shameless) if necessary!!

And, in chapter 18 of Luke:

Read Luke 18:1-8 below:

1.  Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

2.  “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected men.

3.  And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

4.  For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,

5.  yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests.’”

6.  And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge.

7.  Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?

8.  I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

This is similar to the “impudence” or “persistence" that we just read about in Luke 11.  This widow continues to “pester” the “unjust judge” with her cry for justice against her adversary.  Finally the judge gives her justice, simply because he is tired of listening to her!  She is annoying the unjust judge with her "impudence!"

And as you see in the remaining verses, Jesus tells us to listen to the words of the unjust judge, and to know that God will promptly carry out justice to those of us who cry out to Him day and night!

God desires our prayers, and Jesus tells us to pray with "impudence."  We could ask God to reveal the pride in us that inhibits consistent prayer with Him.

Pray, talk to God.

Pride

Pride is the opposite of humility, and because God calls for us to come to Him with humble hearts, Satan will push us in the opposite direction, which of course is pride.

Consider these two verses:

Psalm 51:17

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

and,

Luke 18:17

"Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

We can learn much more about what the Word has to say about pride with a simple "bible search" using the words “pride” and “proud.” 

Distraction

We should EXPECT the enemy to distract us with the everyday issues of life. Satan does NOT want us to know The Word of God.  He targets our pride, shames us, distracts us, keeps us angry with friends and family members, and much more.  The evil one often targets married couples and families in an effort to keep us from praying together.   We combat this with a “broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.”  Pray together.

In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul says, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."   Paul is saying that if we simply have a "desire" to live a godly life, we will be persecuted.

Satan hopes that persecution will drive us away from God, but God uses the persecution to strengthen us in our walk with Him.  It is vital to humble ourselves and call to God for help in any and every challenge that we face in our brief life in the flesh.  And it should encourage us to know that God offers help with our prayers in ways beyond our understanding:

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  Romans 8:26-27

So even when we do not know what to pray for, the Spirit himself intercedes for us.  We should give thanks (pray) to God for His help!

Peace, Guards Hearts and Minds

Prayer can lead us to the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and which will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  This helps us to turn away from the distractions of this temporary world and focus our eyes on the Kingdom and Eternity. 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

God Gives Generously

James gets right to the point in James 1:5 when he says, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

We can ask God for wisdom, and He will give it generously to us, without finding fault.  The key is to “ask”, meaning PRAY.

But James goes on to say that we must ask in faith, without doubting, or that we “should not think that we will receive anything, and that we are “double-minded”, which in the Greek means, “two spirited”, vacillating.  This means that while we can ask God for wisdom, we also must act in obedience to his word for us, which will test our faith, and may bring discomfort to us, or others. 

The Word of God Speaks, and is saying “Pray, persistently!"