September 5, 2021
Sunday
Luke 18:1-5 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
The enemy does anything he can to block your prayers and block the answers to those prayers. So, He is encouraging here not to be discouraged or lose heart. This passage is not pointing to the obvious. It does not mean if you are persistent, you will annoy God into hearing you. That is not the story or the teaching.
2 Timothy 3:6-7 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
God wants us to be able to receive what He has provided for us. You can sit in church for years and learn so much but never come to the knowledge of the truth. No one can do the learning for you; it is completely up to you. We want to get to the place that we can get our eyes off of man and what man can do for us and get our eyes on God. God set laws in motion long ago and He won’t change or alter those things. We have to come in line with His ways in order to receive. He wants us to get the answer but there is a way that answer comes. The parable in Luke teaches that if we learn how to pray and not faint, we get an answer every single time.
Luke 18:6-8 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
God is not a god of delay. Religion teaches that sometimes God says yes, sometimes no, sometimes wait. That is not in your Bible. That is not the God you serve. We have to rid ourselves of this thinking. You have to be as selective of what you hear and watch as you are about what you eat. What you hear and see is having far more effect on you than what you eat. When God looks at you does He see you in faith? When you lose heart, it is in the area of your mind. In this parable, you have God, the widow, and the unjust judge. The unjust judge is your soul. The soul has no regard for God nor man. What makes the soul unjust is it will take information from any source as the truth. Most of the time, the hinderance is in the area of our soul. Faith is not feelings. Faith is of the heart, not of the soul.
You are a Spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. Your soul has a voice just like your body and spirit have. Feelings is the voice of your soul. You cannot base your life on feelings. You cannot base your faith and receiving from God on feelings. Faith is always based on what God says, not your favorite preacher or author. You have to know what God says! It is the will of God that you get an answered prayer immediately every time, if you pray according to the will of God. The way the widow prepared herself before going to God is what we need to learn how to do. We are guilty of praying for people too quickly. If you pray for someone who is not properly prepared and the manifestation does not come instantly, it damages their faith and their hope. Faith is certain, there is no wondering in it. Receiving from God is as simple as believing with your heart and saying with your mouth. The problem is, between our heart and mouth, is our mind. You have to go to the Bible and get your facts of law straight. You have to know exactly what God says about the matter. You don’t pray the problem; you pray the answer. Don’t contradict your faith by talking the problem after you have prayed for it!
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Without faith it is impossible to receive from God. Everything you receive from God will be by faith. The widow didn’t just speak her feelings and pain, she spoke law! And she spoke it continually! Don’t get weary from negativity before you. Don’t let it enter your soul. You have to walk closely to God, and to do that you’re going to have to be a person of prayer and a person who knows their Bible. God and the Bible are inseparable. You have to decide what kind of believer you’re going to be. Your soul will try to talk to you and bring up circumstances and evidence to prove to you that God won’t do it. This is where you have to rise up! You are not a soul! You are a spirit! The real you is the part that was born again.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Everything we need has already been provided! EVERY spiritual blessing. There is only one way to get the blessings down here on earth from the spiritual realm. Faith. Here is what you need to learn about faith:
1. What is faith?
2. How do I get it?
3. How do I get it to work?
What does God say faith is? Because no other definitions matter! Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith gives substance to things that you hope for. Faith is NOT hope. Hope is based on what you see. Faith is what you know. This is why you have to KNOW what God says. Faith is of the heart; hope is of the soul. It takes both! When you get hope in your soul and faith in your heart working together, you see results! Without hope, faith has nothing to give substance to. Hope is in the future; faith is in the now! Hope is a good attribute but a poor receiver.
Truth trumps facts. It may be true that you aren’t feeling well with sickness in your body. But what is a higher truth? By His stripes you are healed. Feed on the truth! Not the facts!