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Perseverance in prayer



          
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A little boy was kneeling by his bed with his mom to say his nighttime prayers. He began to shout to the top of his lungs, “Dear God, I’ve been real good this year so please let me get a new bicycle for my birthday.” His mom said, “Son, God’s not deaf; you don’t need to yell.” He said, “Mama may be God’s not deaf, but Grandma cant hear well, and she’s in the next room." He was not ashamed to make his need known to the person who he knows will respond favorably. 


Jesus was teaching how to pray without shame by telling the crowd a parable about a person who went to a neighbor in the middle of the night asking for help because of a guest that showed up and there is no food in the house. It talks about extreme hospitality, shameless perseverance to request for help, and help in spite of inconveniences.


"Southern hospitality," is legendary in the United States. People who move to the south always are amazed by the hospitality and welcoming nature of the south.  People not only welcome everyone but  also have great southern food. Eastern and Middle Eastern hospitality is similar. In the Middle East, hospitality is more than the courteous thing to do; it is an important obligation. To neglect hospitality to a guest is unthinkable. Laban, Jethro, Manoah, Samuel, David, Barzillai, the Shunamite woman, and others offered hospitality. In the early Indian relgious book says, “Athidhi devo bava" meaning that a guest is to be treated as God (from “Thythiriyopanishad”). A dissatisfied guerst means that all your good works are undone. It teaches that it is more sinful to send a guest hungry for dinner than for lunch. By observing hospitality, people believe that they can attain wealth, fame and fortune.


In Hebrews 13:2, we read: “Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” It is referring to Abraham prepared a meal for his three (angel) visitors (Genesis 18:3-8) when he was blessed with the promise of child. Lot perceived his obligation towards his (angel) guests was even greater than his responsibility for the welfare of his own daughters (Genesis 19:2-8). With such a high value -- and no corner convenience stores or supermarkets in those days, one can imagine the acute sense of anxiety of the person whose friend arrives for a visit about midnight. He must feed his visitor. That he has no bread in his house is no excuse. 


Jesus paints the picture because his listeners can place themselves in the same situation. This is the background of Jesus' Parable of the Friend at Midnight (11:5-8). The point of the parable, of course, is about perseverance, of never giving up in the face of obstacles. But Jesus' expression, "because of the man's shamelessness" is remarkable. The friend has no sense of decency of waiting until morning, of not disturbing his sleeping neighbor. He goes at midnight and knocks for some bread! And he shamelessly keeps on knocking until his neighbor gets up and gives what he needed. Shamelessness! Brashness! Boldness! That's what the parable illustrates.


The two 'P's of prayer are Persistnce and Perseverance. Persistence  means pray continuously, without ceasing. Perseverance means praying in spite of counter influences, opposition, or discouragement Perseverance is more than persistence. The woman in the parable is both persistent and persevering.


Rocket Chemical Company in 1953 created the rust prevention liquid for aerospace industry.  It took 40 attempts to perfect their formula. The original secret formula for WD40 - Water Displacement 40th attempt- is still in use today.


Many times we confuse here that the neighbor is God. No, Jesus is telling a story about a human neighbor.  But God is not like that human neighbor. The key verse is Verse 13. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).


<<<Having tried for years to have a child, Richard and Susan were elated when Susan became pregnant. Her health problems, however, posed a risk to the baby, and so Richard lay awake each night praying for his wife and child. One night, Richard sensed he didn’t need to pray so hard, that God had promised to take care of things. But a week later Susan miscarried. Richard was devastated. He wondered, Had they lost the baby because he hadn’t prayed hard enough?  On first reading, we might think today’s parable suggests so. In the story, a neighbor (sometimes wrongly thought to represent God) only gets out of bed to help the friend because of the friend’s annoying persistence (Luke 11:5–8). Read this way, the parable suggests that God will give us what we need only if we badger Him. And if we don’t pray hard enough, maybe God won’t help us?  But biblical commentators like Klyne Snodgrass believe this misunderstands the parable—its real point being that if neighbors might help us for selfish reasons, how much more will our unselfish Father. We can therefore ask confidently (vv. 9–10), knowing that God is greater than flawed human beings (vv. 11–13). He isn’t the neighbor in the parable, but the opposite of him.   “I don’t know why you lost your baby,” I can tell Richard, “but I know it wasn’t because you didn’t pray ‘hard’ enough. God is not like that.”


We are called to be the good neighbors who would get up in the middle of night to help a neighbor. God Gives us opportunities to be neighbors in many ways. In the home church in Norcross, during the worship service one Sunday, an elderly woman felt that she needed to pray for a teenage girl sitting in front of her. She tapped on her shoulder and asked her to stay back after church and they prayed.  The girl started to sob and cry.  She shared with her that she had not eaten anything for two days as her family did not have money to buy food.  Her dad was there in the church. She had two siblings and mom back at home who did not come to church.  The elder lady took her and dad to the fast food place and bought lunch for the whole family and took them home. What she saw was so pitiful.  The family moved to this country recently, did not have furniture, there was a fridge, no food in it.  They did not know how to where to turn for help.  The lady came back to church and shared the story and we adopted that family and helped them until they got established. Today the girls are all employed with good jobs, the father is a pastor and mother is still at home.  We are all given chances after chances, knocks on our doors, at churches, at our doors at home, at the grocery door lines, or fast food lines if we  we open our ears an eyes.  


This community is in need of a lot of things. Are we open with our ears and eyes and our hearts to listen? We are praying about a preschool or some kind of service to this area to help with the children to be of service.  One Great question I want everyone here to aske every day from now on : “If this church were to close the door today, would anyone miss it other than the ones who attend here?”  Yes we support the local food bank. We support the local school. There are more area we can spread our kindness. Perhaps someone you know just returned home from the hospital and could use a meal or two. A new family may have moved in to the neighborhood, and a warm welcome could help them feel at home. Opportunities to show God’s love are all around us — we just need to be attuned to them.  When we reach out to others with God’s love, God will handle the rest. In the meantime, we can be alert and “make the most of every opportunity” that God places in our path.


Asking, Seeking, Knocking (Luke 11:9-10) can be summed as A S K. "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (11:9-10). Jesus gives us two word pairs that have to do with prayer. The first is the action, the second is the result. The first word in each pair is in the Greek present tense that can carry the idea of "action in progress in present time," the "Progressive Present." Jesus' command here has the effect of saying, "Do this (and keep on doing it)." The second word in each pair is in the future tense, the expectation, the promise.


I remember mischievous children knocking at our door during prank seasons and running off before my I had time to open it. We would be puzzled and then upset.  It can be frustrating to open the door to find no one there. We can be like those kids, who “knocked” and ran away.  We have knocked at God’s door in prayer but not waited around long enough to hear an answer. Does God open the door to find I have vanished? The miracle of grace is that God constantly listens for our knocking and always responds in love by being there for us. When God says "No" generally means "Not now" Of course, God can tell us "No!" and sometimes He does. The Apostle Paul had a "thorn in the flesh," some kind of affliction from Satan -- whether physical or mental or external opposition we do not know. Paul pleads with the Lord three times to take it away, but then receives the answer, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Paul accepts this answer, and now begins to glory in his weaknesses that Christ's power may rest on him.


Doubt sees the obstacles; Faith sees the way. Doubt sees the darkest night; Faith sees the day. Doubt dreads to take a step; Faith soars on high. Doubt questions, "Who believes?" Faith answers, "I!".


 


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