Pray Always
Luke 18:1-8

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Our section starts with the purpose of this parable when it says And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray.  Our passage ends with Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? ' The connection is simple: prayer is an act of faith.  Failure to pray shows a lack of faith.  Our parable was written to encourage us that men ought always to pray.  The Bible tells us that we must live by faith  and must walk by faith.  Thus, we are to always have faith active in our life constantly and that faith requires us to constantly pray about the things that our faith calls us to do.

For example, before we go visiting or soul winning we should pray about that activity and ask God to be involved.  Notice that our parable says And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?' Jesus was talking about our not taking vengeance on people who do us wrong but to constantly pray to God and let God deal with them.  However, the principal that He used from the parable was that the judge responded when he thought lest by her continual coming she weary me.  Therefore, it is the continual coming  that prompted action of the judge and of God.

As a result, we can use this principal for anything that we pray about including all of our prayer requests.  Keep praying to God.  This is not because God didn't hear or because God forgot but because it shows our faith  and our faithfulness.  If you can not remain faithful  in your prayer until God answers, then how much faith  do you really have?

Remember that God sent an answer to Daniel by an angel and Satan kept the angel from delivering the message for 21 days while Daniel was faithful in prayer.  We don't know all of the reasons why it seems like God is delaying giving our request.  However, while we don't have an answer, we must display faith by praying always .

Luke 21:34-36 says And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

This passage is after prophecies and parables about the return of our Lord.  However, the lesson here can be applied to many other circumstances of life.  The word Surfeiting  means 'Excess food or drink; overindulgence'.  The warning of this passage is that if we don't pray always  then the temptations of this world will take our heart, mind and our focus off of spiritual things and we will miss out on major spiritual spiritual things and we will miss out on major spiritual blessings.

In Acts 10 we read about the salvation of the household of Cornelius.  He was a lost man but he feared God with all all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.  If God will respect the faithful prayers of a lost man, will God not also respect the faithful prayers of His children?' We need to continue to pray for our lost friends and relatives and remain faithful that God will eventually turn them to the truth and to His salvation.

Ephesians 6:18-19 says Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

Here we are taught how to pray and told specific things to pray for concerning the church.  As for how, our passage says:

1. Praying always: don't give up
2. with all prayer: have submission to God's way by using the format of the Lord's prayer
3. and supplication: beg God for the needs of others more than for your own requests
4. in the Spirit:  This is a capital S  which means the Holy Spirit.  Let the Holy Spirit guide your prayers so that your requests are made but presented in a way that emphasizes God's intrests in the matter
5. watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication: this is a repetition of the first two points.  Keep watching and keeping on keeping on and representing others until you see the answer to your prayer then be sure to say thanks .

As to the specific things to pray for, our passage says:

1. for all saints, even the ones you don't like a lot
2. for all pastors, preachers and teachers that utterance may be given unto  them
3. that soul winners and teachers may open (their) mouth boldly 
4. that all of the church members may make known the mystery of the gospel 

Colossians 1:3 says We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Our prayers are to always include thanks for how God has worked and for the specific things that we know that God did.

2Thessalonians 1:11-12 says Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to always pray for ourselves and for other saved people that they would continue to live a sanctified life which includes:

1. that our God would count you worthy of this calling
2. that God would fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness
3. that God would enable us to do the work of faith with power
4. That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you
5. That we personally would be glorified in him
6. That we personally would receive the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ so that our life would do all of the above

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