Always Pray And Do Not Give Up

Luke 18.1-8

The context of this passage is Jesus' Second Coming which He said will be like the days of Noah and the days of Lot. Terribly wicked, nefarious times, unspeakably evil. 17.22-30
Luke 17:30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed."
Certainly we can easily compare the time our country is now in to the days of Lot and Noah. Just look at what our leaders are doing with the laws concerning marriage! I agree with the Pope's statement that same sex marriage is from the father of lies.

What was shameful behavior has now attached the word "pride" to it. I'm not talking about civil rights. I'm talking about honoring God and His Word. I'm talking about the woe pronounced on those who call evil good.

Jesus is speaking about prayer, prayer in reference specifically to His return.

There is a difference between consistency in prayer and persistency in prayer. We need both!
In the first you are praying without ceasing, in the second you continue to bring to the LORD the same request until you receive an answer.
George Muller, Nana prayers answered after they went home with the LORD. I am watching some prayers of my grandmother still being answered today!

The LORD thinks ahead:
Deuteronomy 29.14 I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.

John 17:20-21 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Surrender to Him, willing to keep on praying even if it does not happen in my life time, believing it will eventually or until God says, "No." He does answer prayers like that at times, most of the time He is saying, "Wait." It is that answer which requires the kind of prayer Jesus is referring to here.

1. Always Pray v.1a
Without ceasing 1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually
Without intermission, no broken communication
Prayer is communication with God, and we can live each minute of the day in a constant, flowing, conversation with God, in touch with heaven.
Interestingly this verse from I Thessalonians is in the context of the LORD's Return:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Read through verse eleven.

Praying Continually.
*It is right. It is so appropriate to see Christians pray!
On the other hand prayerlessness is a sin of many dimensions.
*Jesus told us to do pray always.
*It is always best to obey Him.
*He set the example, prayed spontaneously, prayer at night, prayed all night.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Mark 6:45-48 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them,

It is necessary.
We need to pray.
For strength.
To take our stand against the devil's schemes.
For each other.
To keep connected with heaven.
The longer I live the more I depend upon prayer.

It is proper.
We need the LORD.
Dependency.
Honoring God.

Voice, place, posture, time not important.
Place
John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
A Christian has no right to go into any place where he could not continue to pray. - Spurgeon

We can pray always because Psalm 121:3-4. ... He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He Who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

He calls us to pray without ceasing because He is always listening. There is no night in heaven. Great times of prayer happen in the middle of the night.

Luke 18:7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
Crying out to the LORD day and night. This is praying without ceasing.

Day -the interval between sunrise and sunset.

Night - the time when work ceases, when slumber begins.
Psalm 63:6 On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.
Psalm 119:148-149 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises. Hear my voice in accordance with Your love; preserve my life, Lord, according to Your laws.
Lamentations 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner. Today it is the hunger for God's Word.
Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
We are in those days!
Deuteronomy 31.13

Praying without ceasing has inherit benefits.
It brings great blessings as with all obedience to the LORD.
Peace that surpasses all understanding. Philippians 4.7
Mercy to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4.16

Pray Always and...
2. Not Give Up v.1b

to be utterly spiritless
to be wearied out
exhausted

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Romans 15:5-6 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We told what we will need in these Last Days:
Revelation 14:12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

We are in sorrowful times, heart breaking times. Prayer gives a channel for sorrows to flow out of our souls and fill us with joy.
When we go through times of personal sorrow, persistent prayer is what we need. Connection with our Father in Heaven is so important, so vital.
What A Friend We Have In Jesus, Joseph Scriven

Keep those appointments with the LORD. Daily Quiet Times. Prayer Meetings.
Times of great need-Pray!
Spirit of prayer spilling over into life's actions and activities.

Deuteronomy 29.29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

There is a direct relationship with God's Word and prayer. You won't pray like what Jesus is teaching here unless you are spending time in His Word.


3. The Sobering Question v.8

Believing, faithfulness

Avoid
Sinful Interruptions
Unnecessary Interruptions
Lethargy and indifference

1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Obviously things are going to at their worst just prior to His Return. Persistent prayer is one of the components to fixing our eyes upon Jesus.