Prayer

The Gospel of Luke, please, chapter 18. Luke 18, verse 1. And He, Christ, speak a parable unto them to this end, that man ought always to pray and not to faint. Now, this is all we were noting.

About two years ago, we touched on the subject of prayer. We never exhausted the subject, nor will we today. A lot in it.

If you look at this verse, you come to the conclusion that prayer is not always associated with the physical posture. Brethren, prayer is an attitude, no matter where you are. It's an attitude of heart.

There are five things that prayer will do for you. First of all, prayer can change things. That's the book of Esther, and that's Philemon, verse 20-21.

Prayer can change things. Prayer can change persons. That's Jonah.

We'll come to that in a moment or two. The other three things that prayer will do, and brethren, young ones, middle-aged and older ones, we will never outlive the need for prayer. Never will.

Prayer will bring us into conformity with God's Word. Prayer will bring us into conformity with God's Word, W-O-R-K. And prayer will bring us into conformity with God's will.

Always. Now, let's come to the text. In Luke, chapter 6, the Savior prays all night.

All night. All night. In the morning, He chooses His disciples.

One of them would deny Him. One would doubt Him. One would betray Him.

Tell me, would you have followed this path? I would have chosen the best of men. You likely heard what the sovereignty of God means. Brethren, let's not put God in a box.

God is above all, and God is beyond all. Don't tell Him what to do. He's entirely sovereign.

For you likely recognize that down the path of history, there'll be those among His people, maybe even today, would doubt Him. You meet folks like this, doubting the miracles of the Old and New Testament, doubting the purposes of God. There have been folks down the path of corridor who denied Him.

Under extreme pressure. And don't tell me that you're immune to it. Let the situation prevail.

Were they put against the wall? You're a Christian? So the Savior anticipated this. And this is what we call the sovereignty of God. He prayed all night.

Some would deny Him. Some would doubt Him. That's Luke chapter 6. In the book of Job, we'll apply it.

The heavens are dark. The clouds are threatening. Every circumstance is against you.

Now tell me, brother, have you ever been that way? Come on. You don't feel like praying? Heaven is like brass. So the question is, what prophet is there to pray to God? In the book of Job? Oh yes, there certainly is prophet in praying to God.

Now, have you ever met a Jew and give your testimony to a Jewish person? Rabbi? Orthodox Jew? You know what they would challenge you if you're an evangelical Christian? And they think they have every right to do that. Tell me, dear Christian man, where was God at the Holocaust? Come on, how would you answer it? Come on. To the Jewish people is a real problem.

When I was a boy, I saw concentration camps in Europe. I'll never forget the sights. Where was God, they'll ask you, at the Holocaust? Well, you tell them, read Deuteronomy 28 and 29.

For this is exactly what Moses prophesied to the nation. If they forget God, this is what takes place in principle. That's your answer.

Israel's history can only be understood because of the rebellion against God. Oh, the day will come. They'll pass through the greatest crisis that the nation ever has experienced.

And this is what the Savior anticipated. He taught it. He said, You will not hence foresee Me until you say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Now, tell me please, before you got saved, did God put pressure on you? Brought you down? You didn't know where to go? You didn't understand salvation? Now, some of you likely brought on the Christian home, unlike myself. And you were frustrated beyond measure. And God brought you down.

Before salvation comes repentance, conviction of sin, if salvation is to be genuine. So that will solve this one. Exodus 3. God's people in Egypt, under bondage, cried to God for deliverance.

By the way, they were not in Egypt, as some brethren will tell you, 400 plus years. For you must reckon the time of exile from Abraham's time. Because Abraham too in his posterity were in the land that wasn't theirs.

Israelites were in the land of Egypt according to Galatians 3, only 200 plus years. That solves that one. Read Galatians 3. So here the Israelites cried to God for deliverance.

And 500 miles southeast, isn't that amazing? God raised up a man. Moses. Aren't you amazed brethren as to the prayer of Old Testament saints and New Testament saints? And what God did? Now, I want to ask you a personal question.

I do not know you that individually. Have you ever faced a real problem in life? And you couldn't solve it. No one else could.

And then after a little while you discern that long before you entered this trial, God made ways of escape. That's amazing. Isaiah 52.

The Lord God will go before you. There's circumstance in the life that you and I will face and God knows all about it. We do not have the answer but God has.

Can I give you one example? In Africa there's a missionary, I won't give you his name. He visited the outlying areas and that's a long, long time ago. When he came back the whole hut was ransacked and nothing left.

Nothing left. Next week he went to the trading post. You know they didn't have UPS or what do you call it, percolator or federal.

They didn't have those things in those days. A week later he went to the trading post and there's a large parcel from what we call the old country. By the way, the old country misnomer.

America is just as old as Europe. By the way. And the man opened the parcel and everything that was stolen was in the parcel.

Not replaced by the thief. Now tell me, please. How did the folks 4,000 miles in what we call the old country know that the man had this specific need? God knew.

God knew. Amazing, isn't it? You, dear young people, please have more confidence in the God you've come to know. That'll add another dimension to your spiritual life.

It's amazing what God can do. Over 100 years ago when the country of China was open for missionaries, there was a missionary conference here in the States. I don't know where it was.

It doesn't matter. And a number of brethren who worked in China gave their testimony and their report. One man related that there was a drought in the country.

And the young believers, the Chinese, came to him and said, Now, sir, did you not teach us God will supply all and eat? Yes, I have done that. Well, how come? Our cattle are dying. There's nothing to eat.

So the missionary called them in. Eight nights of solid prayer. Eight nights.

The last night of the prayer they heard what sounded like hail on the roof. And they looked around. And the whole compound, there was three ounces.

Three ounces. I got my measurements wrong. Three inches of grain on the compound.

He scarcely had given his report. The other brother got up and he said, I labored 600 miles from where you were. We had one of those tornadoes.

Now, you folks, you like tornadoes, don't you? We need some spiritual tornadoes, mind you. Never mind the real ones. And he said our silo at that time was full of grain.

And this tornado or typhoon, whatever they call it, with tremendous force, dismantled those silos and carried the grain 600 miles to your place where it was needed. Do you believe it? Man, by the looks of you, I don't know. You see, my dear brother, we are under the Gulf of Mexico.

Clouds are gathering. Millions of tons of water accumulate in the heavens. They make their way northeast, southern states, hopefully Iowa, all the way into Wisconsin, Michigan, and into Ontario, and to the eastern part of Canada, and dumping millions of tons of rain held up there by the hand of God.

And here we wonder, several tons of grain, can God do it? Amazing what God can do. Answer to prayers. God raised up a deliverer 500 miles.

It's amazing what God can do for you, whatever need you have, young brother, young sister. Israel cried unto the Lord, Can I encourage you, sisters? You say, what's up? In the days of the judges, to the north of Israel were the Canaanites. To the south were the Midianites.

To the east were the Amorites. To the west, Philistines. Follow me? Brethren, God's people are surrounded by enemies.

And God used a woman to pray. Hannah. Oh Lord.

She was concerned about the situation. Oh Lord, because in the book of the judges, you didn't have any, what I call, central government. Everyone did what is right in their own eyes.

No consolidation, spiritually speaking. This woman was deeply concerned. Oh Lord, we need a man whom God can use to bring the nation together.

Samuel. Samuel. One woman.

Now, isn't that amazing? As we are fairly close to the psalm, Psalm 73, there's a man who has a somewhat usual experience. You likely have been there yourself. Notice.

This man becomes careless in his ways. Psalm 73. Carelessness doesn't stand by itself.

The man becomes cold in heart. That's when the red light flashes. My affections.

It stops there. Cold in heart. He becomes critical of spirit.

Met people like this? Critical of certain preachers. Critical as to what they said. And you have no basis for it.

That's Psalm 73. Not only did he become critical, he becomes careless in his thinking. And then he says, I was just like a beast before you.

And the picture does not change, my dear brethren, until you come to verse 17 where he says, I went into the sanctuary of God and I had it out. Place of meeting God. The place of absolute holiness.

The place of restoration. Yes, prayer. Prayer can restore.

Restore. Now, I like David's prayers. For the sake of time.

Just lift out Psalm 8. Where David looks at the heavens and sees the glory of God in creation. Today we have so many gadgets, you know, we don't look up into the heavens. At least some young Christians don't.

Almost every teenager has one of these, what do you call it, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, whatever, you know, these little things, ding, ding, ding, ding. I wonder whether this will be used in the time of the tribulation or other events where things will go around like wildfire. So here, David looks at creation and he offers up a prayer of thanksgiving and recognition in relation to creation.

Now I'm going to address myself to the young people. Tell me in God's name, have you in public, school, college, university been exposed to evolutionism? Come on now. Have you? This is a Johnnie-come-lately religion.

Don't you ever believe it. Can I introduce you to a very dark side of evolution that is never taught in the higher places of learning, but you beware. See, evolution teaches, among other things, that the stronger species will wipe out weaker species.

All right? They observe it in the animal world. The politicians in Europe took this theory away and applied it to their racial policies. That's true.

That is, eliminate people of inferior value. That explains the concentration camps. Eliminate them.

Create a pure people. That's the indirect teaching of evolutionism. Don't you young people ever believe it? And face a professor.

He may not like it. Now, as you travel through the world, it is amazing the people you meet and what they believe. I don't say this to make you smile, but I met a university professor.

Brains galore. You know what she believed? She believed in an Eastern religion, reincarnation. As soon as she said it, I thought to myself, my dear lady, I'm going to have some fun with you.

I said, in this reincarnation process, what were you... You see, I play completely naive on purpose. What were you 700 years ago in your reincarnation process? She said, I was a rabbit. I was a rabbit.

And she put herself in a trap. I said, 700 years ago, I remember I was a fox. I saw you at the edge of the bush.

And I sneaked up on you and I pounced on you and I killed you and I ate you. She didn't know where to look. Isn't it ridiculous what folks believe and they're smart, intelligent people.

High school, college. Dear young people, let your convictions come from the book. The inspired page said the word, inerrancy, reliability, and authority.

It is true. There are certain things a little difficult to understand. What do you do about it? Pray about it.

God will show you the light. Yes. So here's Psalm 8. Some other reference in 2 Chronicles.

Oh, that's a dangerous business. Jeroboam had separated himself and ruled over the northern ten tribes. Rehoboam in the south, he mustered up 400,000 people in the 2 Chronicles.

Jeroboam mustered up 800,000 people and he planned an ambush to wipe the southern army out. And always keep in mind that God noticed these things. And God wiped out the northern army.

A little later on, an Egyptian army came in to the south and God wiped them out too. Now, if you study history, and I always found history very interesting since the Lord saved me because I have learned to look at history from the standpoint of a Christian. I found out this.

Every nation, every dictator, every ruler that purpose to get after God's people in Israel will have to suffer for it. Whether it's the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, especially the Romans, each nation that sought to destroy Israel, the hand of God is upon them. Today there's a keen recognition as to the increasing danger of Islam.

They've never gone back to ultimately conquer the world. They gladly put their hand on you for no reason because you're a Christian. It's a real threat, brother.

Ultimately, in the not too far distant future, very likely as you look at the history of Daniel and Revelation, they will invade Israel to wipe them into the sea and God will destroy them. Every nation has fared like this. Every individual has fared like this.

You cannot fool around with God's people, whether they're Jewish people in the coming day or today. You can't fool around with them. They're the apple of God's eye.

I heard that. Thank you. At least somebody's enjoying it.

That explains history. Finally, we come to Jonah. Jonah is a heart not to crack.

Now keep in mind that prayer will bring you to conform with God's Word. Prayer will do that. But you see, Jonah is not a man of prayer.

He doesn't. Had the dear man been a man of prayer, he would have understood, although it's in a somewhat mysterious, nebulous form, the prophecy that Noah uttered 100 years before. You say, what's this? Noah prophesied that the three chief branches of humanity, Ham, Shem, and Japheth, and as far as I can see, 99.9% are all Japhethites, Indo-European nations.

Oh, here and there we've got a Hamite here. So it says Noah that the Japhethites, the Indo-European nations, will dwell in the tents of Shem. Now who's Shem? The Middle East has several nations.

They're Semitic, of which the Jews are only one branch. What Noah prophesied is that in a remarkable degree, the Indo-European nations will share in the spiritual inheritance and truth. Follow me a few hundred years.

The Apostle Paul's in Asia. Troas. Little town on the Aegean Sea.

That night he has a vision. A man from Europe. Come over and help us! And with this vision that Paul received, Noah's prophecy was fulfilled.

You see, Paul has said to preach the Gospel in Asia Minor. Now ultimately he did. Later on they did.

But at this particular time, the Lord led them into Europe. And you and I, we are the indirect result as to what Noah prophesied a hundred years ago. Paul recognized it, and so the Gospel came into this country.

Thank God for it. But you see, Jonah is not a man of prayer. And God did not use him until he learned to pray.

And that wasn't the gastric juices of a whale. Matthew 12. Scientists will tell us, no, it was a grouper.

Some grouper. It was a whale. Matthew 12.

Some people just don't know how did he survive, Jonah? He could have been semi-conscious. I have no problem whatsoever. Not until he learned to pray, which brought him into conformity with God's will and with God's work.

Not until then was he used of God.