Always Pray and Never Give Up

Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that we need to always pray & never give up.

When you were a kid, did you ever play the game MERCY?

You know, the game where two people lock hands, fingers intertwined. On the count of three you squeeze. Inevitably this is going to hurt one person more than the other. At any time one person can cry, “MERCY.”  When that happens, they loose & the other person wins.

For whatever reason, this is an incredibly fun game to play when you’re a kid.

But then you grow up.  Sometimes you find yourself crying, “Mercy!” Not because someone is squeezing your fingers too tight, but because life is just getting to difficult & you don’t know what to do anymore.

Have you ever been tempted to throw in the towel & give up?

Maybe things at work have gotten to the point that its more than you can bear.

Maybe things in your family situation are so complicated & so difficult that you don’t know what to do anymore.

Maybe you’ve got a problem that seems so unsolvable that you’re ready to throw your hands in the air & walk away.

Maybe you’re just having one of those weeks where everything seems to go wrong & you’re ready to cry, “Mercy!”

I think that’s how a lot of us may be feeling right now. Last week, as we’re praying at our church for our city, for our people, for our nation & for our world, another shooting happened in Baton Rouge.

We cry Mercy.

Every day there’s more news about injustice around the world.

We cry Mercy.

We live in a world filled with racism, anxiety about politics & fear about what might happen tomorrow.

We cry Mercy.

This has long been the situation in the world around us. There has always been injustice. There has always been trouble. There has always been oppression, violence & pain. But as the people of God, we have unparalleled hope.

We have unparalleled hope because we have uncommon access to the One who can help us in our time of need.

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Listen to this story Jesus told his disciples about the hope we have…

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.  “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people.  A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’  The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people,  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!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.  Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man[a] returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Luke 18.1-8

In other words, you should know, God is nothing like this unjust judge. Nothing like him. No, your God is good & kind & just & loving & he cares for you. And he will quickly give justice to you, you who are his beloved, you who are his chosen people when you CRY OUT to him.

The Power of Crying Out to God

Don’t miss this. Some of you already know this truth that is found throughout scripture. But if you’ve never seen this truth, don’t miss out on it here. Because this parable, this parable is about prayer. But it’s not about the kind of prayer you offer before you eat your tacos. It’s not about the kinds of prayers you pray before bed, you know, the kind of prayers that you never finish because you fell asleep while you were praying. Jesus isn’t even talking about the kinds of prayers you write every day in your journals. The fact is, there is a kind of prayer that is talked about throughout scripture. A kind of prayer that is evident in the psalms. A kind of prayer that is prayed in the early church. A kind of prayer that has the power to do amazing things.

In the Psalms we read…

Morning, noon, and night I CRY OUT in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice. Psalm 55.7

I CRY OUT to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. Psalm 57.2

O Lord, God of my salvation, I CRY OUT to you by day. I come to you at night. Psalm 88.1

I rise early, before the sun is up; I CRY OUT for help and put my hope in your words. Psalm 119.147

I CRY OUT to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. Psalm 142.1

In scripture, Christians were known as people who “called upon the name of the Lord.” (Acts 9.14; Romans 10.12; 1 Corinthians 1.2)

There is this picture throughout scripture, & Jesus uses the same picture here, of people who aren’t just praying but people who are crying out to God!

In his book, The Power of Crying Out, Bill Gothard says… “Like fasting or kneeling, crying out is a Scripture-sanctioned way to pray with intensity & commitment.” (p24)

So here’s what I want you to think about today. Remember what Luke said in verse 1?

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

You do not pray to demonstrate that you have a relationship with God. Prayer IS your relationship to God. When you CRY OUT to God, you need to know today that He listens. He listens & He hears you.  He doesn’t hesitate to act for your good & for His glory because He is a good Judge. He is a good Father. He is a good God. The way you pray to God reveals the quality of your relationship with God.

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I know this hits home with a lot of you in the room today because you need God. if you ever needed Him, you need Him now. And while I don’t know your exact situation, I get it. You need God to help you with your kids. You need God to help you with your marriage. You need God to help you with your addiction. You need God to help you with your friends. You need God to help you with your sickness. You need God to help you with your grief. You need God to help you with your finances. You need God to help you with your job. You need God to help you. And I want to tell you today, CRY OUT to God. He will hear you. He will listen. He will answer.

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Elijah cried out to God & fire fell from Heaven.

Moses cried out to God & the water’s parted & the nation of Israel was saved.

Jesus cried out to God & the storm stopped & the disciples were saved.

Stephen cried out to God, & forgiveness fell from heaven on those who were killing him.

The church cried out to God for Peter who had been thrown in prison & an angel came & delivered him in the middle of the night.

Paul & Silas cried out to God from prison the earth shook, the prison gates came undone but no one escaped. Instead they stayed but that jailer & his family believed in Christ & were baptized that night.

You see, something happens when we cry out to God.

We have to believe what we say we believe. And when we cry out to God, it isn’t so that God will make our life easier. It’s so that God can make things on earth as they are in heaven. God isn’t some genie in a bottle. He’s not waiting to make all your wishes come true. He’s waiting to make things on earth as they are in heaven.

Remember, your God is always working, often in invisible ways, for your good & for His ultimate glory. Just because you can’t see him at work doesn’t mean you should doubt his work on your behalf. Just because you can’t feel his presence in your life doesn’t change the fact of of His presence in your life.

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And if you think that God won’t answer your prayers, that any hope of help is as good as dead, just remember Jesus himself cried out to God, then died on a cross & was buried for three days. He was as dead as dead gets. But then, on the third day, God raised him up! We serve a God with resurrection power, with life over death power. The game is never over with God. Even when you think it’s over, it’s never over. Keep crying out to God.

You serve a great God with a great name & a kind heart. Cry Out to him. He will hear. He will answer.

And even when it seems God isn’t doing anything FOR you, remember that He is always doing something IN you.  Trust Him.

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ALWAYS PRAY & NEVER GIVE UP.

Maybe it’s time we let go. You know what I mean? Maybe it’s time we let go from playing MERCY with the world. Many of us have white knuckles. We won’t let go. We can’t look away from Facebook long enough to look at scripture. We can’t let go of the anxiety we have about the world long enough to remember the hope we have in Christ.

When we cry out, “Mercy” & we let go of holding hands with the world, our hands are free to take hold of the hands of God. And there’s nothing like walking hand in hand with your father. There’s peace when you walk hand in hand with your Father. There’s hope when you walk hand in hand with your Father. There’s confidence when you walk hand in hand with your Father. There’s joy when you walk hand in hand with your Father.

Will you let go of whatever it is your holding on to today & take hold of the hands of God? Will you cry out to him for help & have faith that He is working in your life for your good & for his ultimate glory?

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