INTRODUCTION:

1. Oftentimes, we preachers will quote Luke 18:8 in reference to the horrible apostasy and unbelief that is so prevalent in these last days.
2. Our Lord’s statement certainly coincides with the numerous other Scriptures that describe the apostasy of the last days.
3. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (II Timothy 3:1).
4. “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (II Peter 3:3).
5. But oftentimes we forget that the immediate context is not about apostasy, but about prayerless-ness. In other words, things will be so bad in the last days that no one will be praying.
6. Unbelief will have blinded men’s minds so that they will not believe that God can answer prayer.
7. I was talking to a Hindu woman yesterday who told me that she could never be sure that God hears her prayers. So I showed her from the Bible that the true God of heaven does hear our prayers, and promises to answer our prayers.
8. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22).
9. We can expect this unbelief from an ignorant heathen, but what about professing Christians who do not believe in the efficacy of prayer?
10. Jesus said that when He returns, the apostasy will be so bad that most people will not even believe in a personal God. I hate to say it, but in America today, more and more people are turning away from Biblical Christianity and are shifting to the worldview of that Hindu woman (e.g., Jesus is not God; God is impersonal; the Bible is not the basis of all truth; etc.). These dangerous views are gaining in popularity.
11. God wants us to pray (18:1). There are two very important passages on the subject of prayer in the Gospel of Luke (cf. Luke 11:1-13).
12. Tonight, I would like to pick out a few principles on prayer from our Lord’s parable of the unjust judge.
13. "Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness" (George Muller).
14. “Prayer is not to persuade God to do something that He didn’t intend to do; prayer is to get you and me in line with the program of God” (J. Vernon McGee).

1. MEN OUGHT ALWAYS TO PRAY (18:1)
2. MEN OUGHT TO CONTINUALLY PRAY (18:5)
3. MEN OUGHT TO PRAY DAY AND NIGHT (18:7)

 

I. MEN OUGHT ALWAYS TO PRAY (18:1)

1. The apostle Paul said in I Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” This indicates that prayer is an attitude of the life.
2. Luke 18:1 reminds us prayer is hard work. I have heard pastors admit that they found it very easy to study the Bible and preach, but found it difficult to pray because prayer is hard work – “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).
3. In Luke 11:1, one of our Lord’s disciples said to Him, "Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
4. Notice that the disciple did not ask, "Teach us how to pray, but rather "teach us to pray."
5. Then our Lord answers him by saying to the disciples, "When ye pray…" (11:2). Not "If ye pray" but "When ye pray…"
6. Men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). This indicates that true prayer is hard work. The flesh does not like to pray.
7. "The prayer meeting is the thermometer of the church" (Vance Havner).
8. Reading the Bible and attending church is relatively easy compared to fervent prayer. And when I think of how lackadaisical most church members are toward church attendance and Bible reading, I think: “Oh Lord, how little they probably are praying for their church and their pastor and their missionaries, etc.”
9. I heard a preacher say that it was his observation that Christians who contributed generously to missions generally prayed more for missionaries. It reminds me of that old saying, “Put your money where your mouth is.”
10. Sadly, some Christians would rather worry than pray.

Why worry, when you can pray?
Trust Jesus, He’ll be your stay.
Don’t be a doubting Thomas,
Rest fully on His promise,
Why worry, worry, worry, worry when you can pray? — John W. Peterson

11. The Bible says, “Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6).
12. Remember what Samuel said in I Samuel 12:23, “God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you.”
13. Prayerlessness is a sin, and a sign of unbelief (Luke 18:8).
14. It is time we recognized it for what it is – a “sin against the LORD” (cf. I Sam. 12:23).

 

II. MEN OUGHT TO PRAY CONTINUALLY (18:2-6)

1. This parable pictures a judge who "feared not God,” and had no regard for his fellow man (18:2, 4). In other words, he cared only for himself.
2. Notice that this unjust judge lived "in a city" (18:2). In Scripture, all the way from the days of Cain, whenever you read about sin and wickedness in abundance, it is always in a city. The only favorable reference to a city is to the new Jerusalem, described so beautifully in the book of Revelation.
3. Even the earthly Jerusalem is referred to as, “Sodom and Egypt” in Revelation 11:8. There are sodomite parades in Jerusalem now.
4. In this parable, our Lord also describes a widow who was being oppressed by an adversary, and she came to this judge seeking justice (18:3).
5. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament command God’s people to take care of widows.
6. “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).
7. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
8. At first the judge put her off; he was unmoved by her pleadings (18:4). "But afterward" he decided to avenge her because of "her continual" and persistent coming before him (18:5).
9. Notice the words "lest by her continual coming she weary me" (18:5). Our Lord describes this in Luke 11:8 as “importunity” (cf. Matt. 15:21-28).
10. We ought to keep praying till we get through.
11. When Jonathan Goforth was preparing to go into the province of Honan in China, Hudson Taylor of the China Inland Mission, wrote to him: "It is one of the most anti-foreign provinces in China…Brother, if you would enter that province, you must go forward on your knees."
12. Our Lord wants us to take note of "what the unjust judge saith" (18:6).

 

III. MEN OUGHT TO PRAY DAY AND NIGHT (18:7)

1. The Lord explained that if an unjust judge would act in behalf of a widow because of her importunity, how much more will God, our just and righteous and loving Creator and Redeemer, intervene in our behalf (18:7; cf. 11:5-10).
2. F.B. Meyer said, “The force of this parable lies in its succession of vivid contrasts.” If this worldly judge will grant justice to a humble widow because of her persistence, how much more will a holy God hearken to His people when they call on Him?
3. The unjust judge had no concern for this poor widow, but God is deeply interested in our trials and troubles. Therefore, if the unjust judge helped the widow, God will certainly move to help His own elect when we pray.
4. F.B. Meyer said, “The judge is unjust. He neither fears God nor regards man. His one idea is to extort as much money as he can. But God is our Father, unimpeachable in his integrity, and only eager to promote our welfare. The judge had no personal interest in the claimant. She had no personal attraction for him. Had she been possessed of property, he might have cared more. But now he looked on her as a pest that plagued and worried him. But we are God’s elect, over whom his tender heart yearns.”
5. The word "speedily" (18:8) does not necessarily mean "immediately." The same word is translated "shortly" in Romans 16:20 and Revelation 1:1.
6. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass…”
7. The idea here is that God will move quickly once the answer to prayer begins to come.
8. Our Lord concludes His parable by asking, “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (18:8), indicating that when our Lord returns most people will be absorbed in worldly pursuits (cf. 17:26-30).

 

CONCLUSION:

Many years ago, R.A. Torrey wrote a book entitled, How to Pray. It is a very helpful and useful book. His last chapter is entitled, “The Place of Prayer Before and During Revivals,” and it is filled with wonderful stories of revivals here and in England, Ireland, and other countries, and each and every one started with earnest prayer. Let us pray (cf. Luke 11:13)!