P U S H

Parables  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  47:16
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INTRODUCTION

Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Prayer, Perseverance in

When Edmund Gravely died at the controls of his small plane while on the way to Statesboro, Georgia, from the Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport in North Carolina, his wife, Janice, kept the plane aloft for two hours. As the plane crossed the South Carolina/North Carolina border, she radioed for help: “Help, help, won’t someone help me? My pilot is unconscious.” Authorities who picked up her distress signal were not able to reach her by radio during the flight because she kept changing channels. Eventually Mrs. Gravely made a rough landing and had to crawl for forty-five minutes to a farmhouse for help.

How often God’s people cry out to him for help but switch channels before his message comes through! They turn to other sources for help, looking for human guidance. When you cry out to God for his intervention, don’t switch channels!

The text before us today arrests our attention with the reality that God’s people often cry out to him for help but switch channels before his message comes through! They turn to other sources for help, looking for human guidance. We should see from the lesson of this text today that when you cry out to God for his intervention, don’t switch channels!

CONTEXT OF THE TEXT

It was on a day when Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” Jesus does not put it off, but responds immediately to the request. He said “When you pray, say Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.
Then he launched into a parable, not to confuse them, but to make his point clear. He asked them to put themselves in a needy situation. He said, now imagine that you go to a friend for help at the most inopportune time and are denied entrance. But, because you are in such dire need, and you know that he has the means to help, you keep on knocking on the door. Jesus says he may not get up to help you because you are his friend, but he will because you won’t stop banging on the door.
He then ups the ante and says “Now put yourselves in the role of a father. if your child asked you for a fish, you wouldn’t give a snake, would you? Or, if they asked you for an egg, you wouldn’t give them a scorpion? He said, if you can be that kind to your children and you are evil, Don’t you think that God will the give us the best as well.

SERMONIC CLAIM

In this text Jesus answers the disciple’s question by saying this is how to pray In
Pray Intelligently, Pray Structurally, Pray Persistently, and Pray Expectantly.

PRAY INTELLIGENTLY

Right from the start, should recognize that the text is tailored to teach that as disciples of Christ we need to learn how to pray. The unnamed disciple had it right. Contrary to popular opinion, there are some things that you can’t fake it until you make it. Did y’all hear me? When it comes to prayer it will never be caught until it is taught. This disciple said “teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” That is to say that it is the job of the teacher to teach the disciple.
This is a good place, right here, to press the issue of discipleship again. The sad reality with many contemporary churches is that discipleship no longer holds the weight it used to hold. As a matter of fact, most church folk don’t want to be taught anything because they feel like they know just as much as the one who is sent to teach them. And so biblical literacy suffers, fellowship suffers, outreach ministries suffer, and learning how to pray suffers.
The old hymn says:
Teach me to pray Lord, teach me to pray
this is my heart’s cry day after day,
I long to know Thy will and Thy way,
Teach me to pray Lord, teach me to pray.
PRAY STRUCTURALLY
Praying intelligently means praying structurally. We all have heard people pray who are all over the place. And while it is true that the Lord can decode it; He says to us today that He shouldn’t have to when He has revealed to us the structure. Listen to the text: Luke 11:2-4
Luke 11:2–4 NASB95
And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ‘Give us each day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
Now there are some who will insist that there are other ways to structure prayer. But, suffice to say today that this is the structure that the Master gave us.
Let me park parenthetically for a moment and make to observation on Jesus’ remark “When you pray”. This says to us that prayer is something that you do, not just talk about.
The only prayer that the Lord does not hear is the one you have not pray
Dr. E. M. Bounds

The story is told of a long-ago couple who said farewell to their home church as they were about to leave for an African mission field known as “The White Man’s Grave.” The husband said, “My wife and I have a strange dread in going. We feel much as if we were going down into a pit. We are willing to take the risk and go if you, our home church, will promise to hold the ropes.” One and all promised to do so.

Less than two years had passed when the wife and the little one God had given the couple succumbed to the dreaded fever. Soon the husband realized his days were also numbered. Not waiting to send word of his coming, he started back home at once and arrived at the time of the Wednesday prayer meeting. He slipped in unnoticed, taking a back seat. At the close of the meeting, he went forward. An awe came over the people, for death was written on his face.

He said, “I am your missionary. My wife and child are buried in Africa and I have come home to die. This evening I listened anxiously as you prayed for some mention of your missionary to see if you were keeping your promise, but in vain! You prayed for everything connected with yourselves and your home circle, but you forgot your missionary. I see now why I am a failure as a missionary. It is because you have failed to hold the ropes.”1041

PRAY PERSISTENTLY

The sad reality is that many who say they are the disciples are not praying. It seems that they have forgotten that “Prayer moves the hand that moves the world!” And so instead of keeping on praying, they stop. Jesus says to His disciples “if you want to know how to pray…Pray Persistently”. What do you mean Jesus? He said, let’s suppose you had a friend: See Luke 11:5-10
Luke 11:5–10 NASB95
Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything. “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
The lesson being taught here is that delay doesn’t necessary mean denial. Let me illustrate:

A woman left her diamond brooch in a hotel. When she got home she remembered her brooch and called the hotel. She told the manager what happened and he went to look for it. He found it, put it in the safe, and returned to the phone to tell her the good news, but she had hung up.

So many of us are like this. We aren’t willing to wait on the Lord.

Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (p. 280). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

PRAY EXPECTANTLY

Well, Brothers and Sisters, the Lord is trying to teach to pray. He says When you pray: pray intelligently,pray persistently, and then pray expectantly. Ask and it shall be given, Seek and you shall find, Knock and the door shall be open. In other words, Jesus is saying to us today: Pray with Expectation.
It’s right here in the text today! He changes the relationship from friend to father. He says to his audience (His disciples) “y’all have children, don’t you? Which one of you would give your son or daughter a snake if they asked for a fish? And which one of you would gives your babies a scorpion when they asked for an egg? None of you! And all of us are defective, evil, flawed. So then if we would try to meet the expectation of our children.

Conclusion

A young man, who was obviously worried, stepped into an elevator to go to the second floor of a hospital where his father was in the intensive-care unit. Although the button labeled “2” was already lighted, he pushed it again and again. A doctor standing behind him said, “Pushing the button someone has already pushed is like reminding God you’re still there when he hasn’t answered your prayer immediately.”
As the man thought of his father in intensive care, it was comforting to know that God does encourage believers to continue to pray the same prayers until he answers (Matt. 7:7-8).
Matthew 7:7–8 NASB95
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Well, Good After noon Village, and may the Lord God bless you real good. But, I just rose to tell you, that sometimes in this life… the road gets rough, and the going gets tough. (do I have a witness?) And… the hills are hard to climb.
Can I tell you what we should do? Pray… keep on praying, Pray…keep on praying. As matter of fact we ought to make up our minds today that no matter what come our way we are are going to PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens.
Its got to happen! Because our Lord came all the way down. it’s got to happen! Because He gave his life for us. Because bled, suffered and died; laid in a borrowed tomb. Because He rose with all power. Yeah!
He’s listening when we pray. So Pray...
until He alters the situation
until He brightens up you day
until He Covers you with the wings of His Love
until He Delivers your Daughter
until He Expedites your Elevation
until He Fights your Battle
Pray...
your Goals are reached
your House becomes a Home
your identity becomes clear
your joy becomes unspeakable and full of glory…
I think y’all got it now...
Pray church pray Don’t hesitate It’s not too late for your break through God desires to hear from you Something is bound to happen When the church begins to pray
When the church begins to pray God will have His way Chains will be broken Doors will swing open Oh oh, something GOOD is bound to happen When the church begins to pray (Repeat) Verse When the church begins to pray God will have His way Captives they will be free Doubters they will believe Something is bound to happened When the church begins to pray
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