Persistent Prayer

**Joshua Kirstine** (0:00)
It's a joy to be with you this morning, church family. If you'll grab your Bibles with me and turn to the Gospel of Luke. We began our time in Chapter 18 this morning, and this 107th sermon in our journey through Luke's Gospel. What a true joy it has been to hear so much feedback from you all about God's mighty work. It's been a true blessing for me as I study and prepare and pray each week to preach, just grateful for the Lord's work in us and through us. Today in our beginning time in Chapter 18, it's here that we study a parable that Jesus told his disciples to implore them to be constant in prayer despite what they face, which would fuel their persistence in faith. Look with me at how Luke sets the table for Jesus' parable in verse one, Luke 18 verse one. And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought to always pray and not lose heart. Jesus just got done telling his disciples in Chapter 17, 22, the days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. This is Jesus' way of saying times are going to be hard. You're going to long to see me when I'm gone, to be with me. And that is the longing of the redeemed's heart. We want to be with our Lord and Savior face to face. Luke tells us here that Jesus is about to tell a parable so that they will be persistent to pray and to not lose heart. Oh, how I pray this sermon is good for your soul, brother, sister. Let me ask you, as we dive in this morning, be honest. In what ways have you been losing heart? In what ways have the hardships and the persecutions, the sufferings, the injustices, the workings of sin and the flesh, in this life, in what ways have they taken hold of you in such a way that it feels like your faith is slipping a little? Your joy feels like it's slipping. You're losing heart. And if you're honest, you're letting your circumstances affect you. Maybe going so far to let them define you. More than your Savior and your Lord. And if this is you, then I commend you the words of the Apostle Paul to the Saints in Corinth in his second letter, when he says very poignantly, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4, 16-18. Church, this is the key. Our redeemed eyes must no longer be on the temporary, be defined by the temporary. But no, we must stay fixed on the eternal. We must see through the temporary happenings that God ordains to his promises, to his glory, to what he has secured for us. In the midst of the hardship, in the midst of loss, in the midst of pain, we must see through the storm, see the eternal glory that has been secured for us by Christ. It's not secured for you by your circumstances. So stop giving it back to your circumstances. It's secured to you by Christ. We must look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. When we do this, we joyfully will embrace God's purpose for us in these days, so that the gospel is bright and so that it's on display. And so when you're tempted to ask, what are you doing, God, in this? Why is it so hard? That in your faith, you would be able to say, God, I'm confident you're doing a lot in this. You're doing good things. You're doing things that are for your glory in this. I may not see it. I may not understand it. I definitely don't like it. But my faith says you are at work in it.
Consider the Apostle Peter's words about what this looks like for us who belong to Christ. 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7 In this, you rejoice. Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that parishes, though it tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The fact remains, hear me say it clearly this morning. We will suffer. We will struggle. We will experience various trials in this life.