Sermon - Luke 18:1-5 - Does Praying Really Help?

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Learning why we pray and if it really helps or not.

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Sermon – Luke 18:1-5 – Does Praying Really Help?

Lay Reading – Luke 18:1-8

Wouldn’t it be great if there were some magic words which would automatically obligate God to do what we ask … sort of an “abracadabra” for God? Or maybe a formula—a set of steps that we could perform that would make God respond the way we want Him to?

Some people will tell you that the magic formula for getting your prayers answered is being good enough. Others think belonging to a certain church or lighting enough candles or saying enough prayers is the key. All these teachings make God into a sort of cosmic Santa Clause. If we do these things then God MUST respond the way I want Him to.

Others will tell you that the magic formula is the amount of faith that you have. If you have enough faith you can ask anything and you will receive it. The name-it claim-it clan. The next verse is their magic formula. They cite the words of Jesus who said, “Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14 In this case the abracadabra is the name, “Jesus.”

But life shows us that God doesn’t work that way. How many of us have had the blue lights in the rear view mirror and as the officer walks up to the car we utter a simple prayer in Jesus’ name, something like, “Lord, may this officer be coming to my window to compliment me on my safe driving … in Jesus’ name.” Doesn’t work, does it?

Well, it’s always dangerous to take a text out of its context and these verses are no exception. Picking just one verse or two out of the middle of a section of Scripture is like going to a puzzle box with 5000 pieces and pulling one out and saying, “I know what the puzzle is going to look like just by looking at this one piece.” No you can’t!

Understand that a person’s name held great importance to Jewish people; it was more than a name, it was a statement of who that person was … his essence. Jesus means, “Salvation.” To pray something “in Jesus’ name” means you are praying in accordance with who He is at his core: you’re in agreement with His character.

It certainly doesn’t mean that Jesus is obligated to grant your request if it’s selfish. The very next verse has Jesus saying, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” John 14:15. That’s about Jesus, not about our selfish wants.

The context is best explained by the same author, John, who wrote, “Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14 Our request should align with what Jesus is about at his core.

So why pray? If we can’t sway God, what’s the use? That sort of attitude is called fatalism. It’s like we’re hurdling down the road of life but we’re in one of those cars at the county fair that has a steering wheel but this big metal beam is in the center of the track. You can drive and steer all you want, but you really can’t get of off the path even if you try. If God has everything all calculated and figured out, then what’s the use?
I think those questions make assumptions that are invalid. In fact, the Bible indicates that God has changed His mind at times. We see in 2 Kings 20 that he once granted a king named Hezekiah an extension of fifteen years to his life when Hezekiah prayed.

And there are abundant examples of God answering prayers: Once when Simon Peter had been arrested and was in jail, there were folks praying for him. It says in Acts 12 that he was sleeping between two guards and that there were sentries posted at the doors. However, God awakened Peter and he walked out untouched.
The truth is that prayer changes things. It is where we tap the inexhaustible power of the infinite God.
Let’s look at some Lessons we can learn from Prayer:

1. Not every prayer is answered the way we want.
I love the Bible because there’s stuff in there you’d never expect. I mean, if this was a novel you’d have the hero getting his way every time. But in the Bible there are some biblical superstars who didn’t have their prayers answered the way they wanted. Check it out:

David prayed for his infant son to live … it didn’t happen. In 2 Samuel 12:16, David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. In fact, as David continued to pray, he received word that his infant son had died.

This was the king of Israel and a man who loved God. He was by no means perfect, but he had a wonderful relationship with the Lord. Yet his prayer wasn’t answered the way he had hoped.

Paul prayed that a physical ailment he had would be taken away. In fact, the Bible tells us he prayed to be healed several times but it didn’t happen. I bet Paul gave God some good reasons why it should be taken away: “I could do so much more without this,” I bet he said … but it didn’t happen.

The Bible tells us that whatever plagued him was really painful. Some believe his eyes were the issue, others think it might have been severe headaches brought on by malaria. Paul prayed and his prayer was answered … not the way he’d hoped.

2 Corinthians 12:9, But his [God’s] answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me.

Here’s an example of a guy who had a great relationship with the Lord, someone who had great faith and was willing to offer his life for Christ who didn’t get what he asked for.

My experiences in life line up with these biblical superstars. Not every prayer has been answered the way I would have liked. There was a man in one of my previous churches who was a very godly man. A leader in the church for many years, and he lived his life as an example of what it looks to be a Christ follower. About a year after I met him, Jim got sick – really sick. He went into the hospital not feeling well, and came home with what turned out to be just a few months left to live, he had cancer that had spread to a number of his organs without anyone noticing any signs. We prayed for him, with him and over him as a church. We anointed him with oil and laid our hands upon him. We kept praying for him, but the cancer was very aggressive and he died from it.

I knew how I wanted that prayer to turn out. After all, there are some wicked people who get well, so why not Jim, one of the most godly people I’d ever met? But it wasn’t to be. It’s at those times you want to ask God, “What’s the deal?”

Want another biblical superstar whose prayer wasn’t answered the way he would have liked? How about Jesus, who prayed at Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” Luke 22:42

Jesus, the son of God, saw that He was about to be crucified and that the weight of all the sins in the world would soon rest squarely on his shoulders. He really didn’t want it to go that way. So He prayed that God would do something else—go to plan B or something but it didn’t happen that way.
I wonder if Mary wondered, you know, as she watched her son on the cross, I wonder if she asked, “God, what’s the deal?”

As a young woman, Mary was informed by an angel that she was about to become pregnant. The angel told Mary about the child she would bear. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:32-33

It couldn’t have seemed that way as she watched him die on the cross. Here you have a promise that your son was going to be a king; he was going to take the throne of Israel and now he’s dying on a tree. It just didn’t add up.

For Mary it came clear a few days later, when Jesus rose from the dead, and when she heard that He was alive, it must have begun to make sense. For me the why Jim got cancer hasn’t clicked in yet—I still don’t know the “why,” which brings me to the next point.

2. The purpose of our praying may be to change us.
Honestly, this is probably the most important part of prayer. God commands us to pray, because He wants to change us, not the other way around.

One day, three men were hiking and they unexpectedly came upon a large raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do so. The first man prayed saying, "Please God, give me the strength to cross this river." Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours, after almost drowning a couple of times.

Seeing this, the second man prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength...and the tools to cross this river." Poof! God gave him a rowboat and he was able to row across the river in about an hour, after almost capsizing.

The third man had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed saying, "Please God, give me the strength and the tools ... and the intelligence ... to cross this river." And poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, hiked upstream a couple of hundred yards, and then walked across the bridge.

Instead of thinking that prayer is about changing God, I think it’s much more accurate to say that prayer is about changing us.

Jesus once told a little story to his followers about prayer. Luke 18:1-5, One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who was a godless man with great contempt for everyone. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her. 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out. ‘I fear neither God nor man,’ he said to himself, 5 ‘but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’

Now let’s not get confused here; the point isn’t that nagging God will eventually get you what you want. Jesus is using hyperbole, exaggeration for effect. He’s not saying, “God is like this judge,” but, “God’s nothing like this judge.”

Think about it, the judge was: godless, uncaring, contrary, predisposed to saying “NO,” a flip flopper, and resentful of this woman’s constant coming.

God’s not like that. In fact, that brings us to the third point.

3. Prayer enhances our relationship with God.
Prayer is about relationship. When I talk with my wife, when I spend time with her, I come to know her better; I come to understand how I can please her. When I first met Kim, I didn’t know that she taught Scottish Highland dancing. I didn’t know she was an artist. I didn’t know that she really appreciates it when I help around the house or that she doesn’t like scary movies. You know how I found out those things …by spending time with her.

Let’s get something crystal clear: prayer isn’t about me getting God to bend to my will—it’s not about nagging God. Prayer is about me understanding what God has for me to do. It’s about me bending my will to His. God’s not Santa Clause or a genie that’s here to grant our wishes.

He’s the creator of the universe who has everything under control—including my life. He has a plan for me. Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good … to give you a future and a hope. Prayer gets me in touch with God at a deep level.

4. Prayer helps me trust God more.
Genesis 18:25 is a great verse. In reference to God it says, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I’ve already said that I don’t understand why some of my prayers haven’t been answered the way I would have liked … but that doesn’t mean I trust God less.

Listen, He’s God and I’m not. He knows what He’s doing and even if I don’t understand the plan I trust the CEO. He’s proven through history and through my life that he knows what He’s doing. It boils down to trust—do you trust that your Heavenly Father knows better than you what you really need?

I believe God knows more about what we need than we do. Sometimes He gives us what we really need, not what we ask for. If my son Justice wanted to eat a bag of candy for breakfast, I wouldn’t give it to him. Not even if he behaved well and smiled nice and asked lots of times. Instead I would give him what he needs, something balanced and nutritious. Even though I love him and want him to be happy, I know better about what he needs than he does. In the same way, sometimes God gives us something better than we ask for. The issue is really trust; do I think that God can run the world, and more importantly my life, better than I can? Isn’t it about time you put your trust in something other than yourself? God really does know what He’s doing—now it’s a matter of trusting Him to take over your life. Let’s pray right now for that.