Going into the Closet!
Steve Wagers
Luke 18:1-8
An atheist owned a brewery. A local church prayed earnestly that God would shut it down. One day, the brewery was struck by lightning and was destroyed. The atheist sued the church. But, the church said that they took no responsibility for the act. The judge said, "This is the strangest case I've ever seen. An atheist believes in answered prayer, and a church takes no responsibility for prayer."
A fisherman who was out of fellowship with the Lord was at sea, with his godless friends, when a storm came up and threatened to sink their ship. His friends begged him to pray; but, he declined, "It's been a long time since I've prayed, or even been to church.
Finally, he acquiesced to their insistence and prayed, "O God, I haven't asked you for anything for 15 years. If you help us now and bring us to safety, I promise that I won't bother you again for 15 years!"
E. M. Bounds said, "Prayer is the language of a man burdened with a sense of need. It is the voice of the beggar, conscious of his poverty, asking of another the things he needs. It is not only the language of lack, but of felt lack, of lack consciously realized. Prayer is the language of those who need something-something which they, themselves, cannot supply but which God has promised them, and for which they ask. Not to pray is not only to declare there is nothing needed, but to admit to a non-realization of that need. It represents an attempt at instituting an independence of God, a self-sufficient ruling of God out of the life. It is a declaration made to God that we do not need Him, and hence do not pray to Him."
In Luke 18, Jesus gives us a lesson in prayer. We live in a day where many are coming out of the closet, but Jesus teaches us that, in regards to prayer, Christians should be going into the closet.
1. The PERSISTENCE that HELPS our Prayer!
Jesus uses this story to describe the persistence that will greatly enhance, enri ...
Steve Wagers
Luke 18:1-8
An atheist owned a brewery. A local church prayed earnestly that God would shut it down. One day, the brewery was struck by lightning and was destroyed. The atheist sued the church. But, the church said that they took no responsibility for the act. The judge said, "This is the strangest case I've ever seen. An atheist believes in answered prayer, and a church takes no responsibility for prayer."
A fisherman who was out of fellowship with the Lord was at sea, with his godless friends, when a storm came up and threatened to sink their ship. His friends begged him to pray; but, he declined, "It's been a long time since I've prayed, or even been to church.
Finally, he acquiesced to their insistence and prayed, "O God, I haven't asked you for anything for 15 years. If you help us now and bring us to safety, I promise that I won't bother you again for 15 years!"
E. M. Bounds said, "Prayer is the language of a man burdened with a sense of need. It is the voice of the beggar, conscious of his poverty, asking of another the things he needs. It is not only the language of lack, but of felt lack, of lack consciously realized. Prayer is the language of those who need something-something which they, themselves, cannot supply but which God has promised them, and for which they ask. Not to pray is not only to declare there is nothing needed, but to admit to a non-realization of that need. It represents an attempt at instituting an independence of God, a self-sufficient ruling of God out of the life. It is a declaration made to God that we do not need Him, and hence do not pray to Him."
In Luke 18, Jesus gives us a lesson in prayer. We live in a day where many are coming out of the closet, but Jesus teaches us that, in regards to prayer, Christians should be going into the closet.
1. The PERSISTENCE that HELPS our Prayer!
Jesus uses this story to describe the persistence that will greatly enhance, enri ...
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