I want to begin reading in Luke
18, 1-8. Brother Glenn was making some
good statements concerning prayer, and that's our subject this morning.
Prayer. Luke 18, verse 1, And he spake
a parable unto them to this end for this reason. Parable teaches
one main thing, and that's what the Lord is going to teach us
this morning. And this is it, that men ought always to pray
and not to faint. And he said, there was in a city
a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. Had no respect for man, no reverence
for God. And there was a widow in the
city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversaries. 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 troubles me, I will avenge her. lest by her continual coming
she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what
the unjust judge said, and shall not God avenge His only elect
which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with
them? I tell you that He will avenge
them speedily." When time comes, He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith
on the earth." Now, this parable teaches us
this one main thing, always to pray and never give up. Mime Origen says here, pray and
not lose heart. Pray and not to lose heart. Now, you'll notice about this
parable, and most parables are this way. They'll teach one or
two main things. This parable doesn't teach us
the necessity of a mediator. If you want to learn that, we
have to go someplace else. There is one mediator between
God and man. We must approach unto God through
Him. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man comes unto the Father
except by me. There is no such thing as God
approaching unto us to do us any eternal good, and there is
no such thing as us approaching unto God to be accepted of Him. We cannot know the love of God.
We cannot be shared of God. He will not deal with us and
receive us except through His Son. But we don't find that here
because it's not the Lord's intent to teach us that here. His intention
is to teach us here, pray and don't faint. Continue in prayer. Are you a praying person? Do
you pray? Maybe you've just begun to pray
lately. Do you come to God through Christ?
Do you recognize your need as a mediator? Then don't give up. If you begin to pray, then don't
lose heart. Just keep praying. Men ought
always to pray and never to lose heart. some of the most thrilling
testimonies that you'll ever read, and I bet you've experienced
this in your own life if you're a Christian this morning. Some
of the most wonderful things that you found out, you found
it out in prayer. You were praying, you were seeking
the Lord, and He heard you, and you never forgot it. You never
forgot it. He said, Call upon Me, And I
will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which
you know not." There's what we find in prayer sometimes. Call
upon me in the day of your trouble, and I will deliver you. I often
tell my grandbabies when I get them off to school on the morning,
they catch the bus. And I've got a habit of telling
them, girls listen, if you find yourself in trouble, Call on
the Lord. Call on the Lord. And He said
He'll deliver you, and you'll glorify Him. Oh, how many have
gone to prayer, and they had questions, and they got their
questions answered. How many have gone to prayer,
and there was darkness in their understanding? They were so confused. And yet they got light right
while they were praying. How many is gone and in need
of assurance? Their minds, their hearts was
full of doubt, and I tell you, they got off of their knees full
of assurance. Pray and don't faint. By prayer and supplication, let
your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and your minds. Pray without ceasing. But I'll
tell you something about prayer, and this is the reason the Lord
Jesus wrote this parable and gave it to us. Prayer can be
hard work. If prayer wasn't hard work, I'll
tell you, there'd be more people praying. And those who prayed
would be praying more. But prayer is hard work. This woman here, this widow woman,
she came And one of the things we find out about her prayer,
and this is what we want to look at today, this is not just ordinary
praying. This is not going to the Lord
and saying, Lord, give us this day our daily bread. Lord, keep
us today from evil. This woman had a special need. She had an adversary, and he
had got the advantage of her. He was troubling her, and she
had a special need. She needed help. She needed relief. And the only one that could help
this woman was this wicked judge. And I tell you, he knew he was
a wicked man. You take a wicked man that will
deny that he's a wicked man, you may get some help from him.
But this man didn't care what you thought about him. He didn't
fear God, and you take a man that don't fear God, he's not
going to regard any man. He had no respect for this woman,
and he had no respect for her needs. And this is the very one
that she had to go to for help. Can you imagine that? She came
to him saying, avenge me of my adversaries, and he would not. For a while. And what this parable
is about is what this lady did during this while that he refused
to answer. That's what I want to look at
this morning. During this while. He would not for a while. And
what did she do during this while? Well, she kept coming She kept
coming. That's the only reason we're
given here that He finally answered her. Her continual coming. She's wearing me out. She's wearing
me to death. And the Lord Jesus said here,
He said, listen to what that unjust judge said. Listen to
his motives for answering. Why did He answer her? To protect
Hisself. He got out of his house in the
morning, and he was ready to come to the courthouse, and there
the woman was. Judge, I've got this man that's
done me wrong. Avenge me. Help me. Oh, and he'd
go on and ignore her, and he would be in court, and there
she would show up. Judge, would you help me? And
he'd leave the court to go home. There she was. He'd go out to
lunch, and there she was. Help me. He said, she is wearing
me out. Give her her request. I can't
take it anymore." Was he concerned about her? Why not? Did he have
any respect for her need? He could care less. He was concerned
about himself. And the Lord Jesus said, hear
what he said. Here's this self-centered, indecent,
indifferent judge, and yet he granted her her request. And
you have a Father in Heaven. That's nothing like this judge.
He's just, and he's good, and he loves to hear his people pray. He delights in their prayers.
He listens when they approach. He bows his ear. He's even given
his spirit to help them to pray. How much more should you and
I not thank, brothers and sisters, and not lose heart when we have
a need that only our God in heaven can meet. And that's what this
parable here is about. Three things I want to consider
with you, and you may not even distinguish between these things
as I look at them because I've not really distinguished between
them, but really this parable is about three things. God liked
this judge. There was one thing that God
disliked this judge. Not in their character, not that
at all. But there's one thing that God
disliked with this judge. Sometimes he delays in that answer
to the prayers of his people. See what he says there in verse
7? And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry not day and
night unto them, though he belong with them? And this word, someone
said, means, although he delays in answering and greatly tries
their patience. David even said this, How long,
O Lord? Forever? You going to put me
off forever? And then secondly, this. The
saint of God, the praying person, should not lose heart when the
Lord delays his answer. Because there's a good reason
for delay. That's the second thing. And
the third thing is this. The only way this can be put
into practice, I mean the only way that you and I can pray and
not faint is by the exercise of faith. Did you notice how
the Lord Jesus linked prayer and faith? He said there in verse
8, after he'd given this parable, Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth." What does faith
have to do with prayer? I tell you, you're not going
to hang on without faith. It's faith that upholds you and
keeps you from fainting. The prayer of faith shall save
the sick. Faith is linked to prayer. If you pray believing, you shall
receive it. And our Lord Jesus mentions great
faith two times in the Bible. Just two times in the Gospel
he mentions great faith. And both of them are connected
with somebody praying. You remember the man, the centurion,
the Gentile soldier up in Capernaum? He had a servant that was dying. He loved him, and he sent a message
to the Lord Jesus, and he said, would you come and heal my servant?
Prayed to the Lord, come and heal my servant. The Lord said,
I'll come and heal him. The Lord got close to his house,
the sin cured and began to think within himself, I'm not worthy
that he should come under my roof. I'm a dead dog Gentile,
and here I am asking him to come and do this for me. And he sent
another crier out, and he said this, you go tell him. Lord,
I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof. Just speak
the Word only, and my servant shall live. Boy, that's faith,
ain't it? Ain't that faith in the authority
of Christ? You just speak the Word. You're
the King. And where the King is, there's
power in what He said. And if you just speak the Word,
my servant shall live. He said, I know what it is to
be under authority. I'm under Caesar's authority,
and when he gives me a command, I carry it out. I've got soldiers
under me, and when I say to that soldier, you go do this, he goes
and does it. And I know that you're a person
of authority. Everything's subject to you.
And you just say the word only, you just speak the word only,
and my servant shall live. Boy, that's faith, isn't it?
You don't have to come here. You don't have to lay hands.
I don't have to feel anything. I don't have to see a sign. If
you'll just speak the word only. You know why we come here and
open our Bibles and just preach the gospel and don't use man-made
gimmicks and traditions of man. You know why we don't have a
mourner's You know why I don't have you to close your eyes and
bow your head and repeat the sinner's prayer? You know why
we don't have such gimmicks of that? Because we believe the
gospel we preach has authority in it. And when we preach it,
the Lord who rules all things can speak to your heart without
any gimmicks, without any traditions. He'll just speak to your heart.
That's the faith we have in Him. That's the faith we have in this
gospel. Speak the Word only. And you know what the Lord Jesus
said? Well, I've never seen any faith like this in Israel. Here's
a Gentile. I've never seen any faith like
this among the Jews. Great faith. Great faith. Look over here at another example
in Matthew chapter 15. Now look here at Matthew chapter
15. The Lord gave us this parable about this woman seeking this
unjust judge and finally got her answer. But you know there
is an incident that took place while the Lord Jesus was here
that reminds us so much of this parable. Because almost the same
thing takes place in this Canaanite woman in Matthew chapter 15 that
took place in this parable. It really happened. I mean, if
the Lord preached this parable, and this woman, this Canaanite
woman heard it, about this woman coming to this unjust judge and
having to hang on and keep on, boy, this woman could have said,
man, that sounds a lot like me when I came to the Lord. Let's
look at it. See if this doesn't read a lot
like a parable. Look in Matthew chapter 15 and look in verse
21. Matthew chapter 15 and look in
verse 21. Then Jesus went thence, and departed
unto the coast of Tyre and Saddam." A lot of Gentiles live there.
There's a place of the Gentiles. And, behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast, and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. And he answered her, not a word.
Sounds like that judge, doesn't it? He would not. First season. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away. She crieth after us. She isn't
crying after you, Peter. And he answered and said, I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. And he
said unto her, It is not right, it's just not good, it's not
me to take the children's bread and cast it to you dogs. And
she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from the master's table. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. First of all, we see a need,
don't we? Verse 22. This was no ordinary prayer.
She wasn't coming and saying, Lord, would you give me today
my daily bread. No, she had a need. My daughter
is grievously vexed. She has devils. Oh, what a need
that is. And look what this request was
based upon there in verse 22. Have mercy. Have mercy on me. I don't merit anything. I'm not
coming because I merit anything. I'm seeking mercy. And look at
her attitude in verse 22. She cried unto Him. And boy, here's the opposition.
In verse 23, the silence. The silence. He answered her,
not a word. Verse 23, even his own disciples
were against her. His own people stood against
her. Send her away. And verse 24, look at this. Even
the purpose of God seemed to be against this woman. I'm not
sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And then
verse 26, her own unworthiness. Woman, you're a dog. You're a
dog. You ain't worthy of anything.
You're a dog. And then number five, her refusing to lose heart
even against such opposition. Verse 25 and verse 27, Then came
she, and worshipped him, and said, Help, Lord. Verse 27, Lord,
I know I'm a dog, but the dog's eat of the crumb which fall from
the rich man's table. And the reason that she continued
and didn't faint was here in verse 28. Woman, great is thy
fate. Now, that's a quick outline.
If any of you want to preach on that, you're welcome to. But
here, let's look quickly at the opposition. The first of all
is this. He did not answer her. He answered
her not a word. Oh, my silence. Silence is dreadful, ain't it?
That cough medicine says silence is golden. Not in prayer, it's
not. Oh, my, it kills you. How many
have been sent away? How many have gone away because
they said, oh, I prayed, but He didn't hear me? He didn't
hear me. I have talked to people and said,
have you been seeking the Lord? Well, I did for a while, but
I couldn't get an answer. He wouldn't hear me, so I just
quit praying. You know what prayer will do? It will teach you what
kind of faith you've got. He'll teach you if you've got
great faith, if you've got little faith, or if you've got no faith.
But he'll find out. The Lord was silence to this
woman. I tell you, silence, oh man,
that's a trial, ain't it? When you go to pray, I don't
mean when you're just going to pray the Christian prayer that
we often pray, but, boy, when you're vexed, when your heart
is burdened, and you need an answer so bad, and you go to
Him, and He don't say a thing. And you go back to him and he
don't say a thing. And you go back to him and he
don't say a thing. Oh, poor David said this. He
said, Oh Lord, unto you I cry, be not silent to me. If you be
silent to me, I'll be like them that go down to the grave. But this woman just kept praying.
Why did she do that? She had got a hold of this concept
somewhere or another. I don't know if somebody had
been teaching her. I don't know if she had been
reading the scriptures. But she got a hold of this concept somewhere
that God is a God who answers prayer. O thou that hearest prayer. And
this must have got in her heart. And she thought within herself,
He's delayed to hear me. He won't speak to me. But I'm
not going to quit seeking I'm not going to quit praying. Brothers
and sisters, here's what you and I need to do. Here's what
we need to do. We need to get this settled down
in our hearts that God is a God who hears prayer. All the wrong
that my dear dad taught me when I was growing up, he was a free
will Baptist. And looking back now at some of the things he
taught me was absolutely ridiculous. But one thing he taught me, and
I appreciate him for that, If you go to the Lord in prayer,
and you're honest with Him, He'll hear you. He'll hear you. All thou that hearest prayer. He that comes to God must believe
that He is, and He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him. And you young children here today, you need to know this
in your heart. When you seek Him, He'll hear
you. When you seek Me with all your
heart, and if He doesn't hear you at first, let me tell you,
don't give up. Don't lose heart. Because God
is a God who hears prayer. Listen here, I love Psalms 102
and verse 17 and 18. He will regard the prayer of
the destitute, and He will not despise his prayer. Now, that's
wonderful in itself, but the next verse, the next verse, he
will regard the prayer of the destitute. Get that in your heart.
He will hear prayer. But the very next verse says
this, this shall be written for the generations to come and for
those who shall yet be created. Oh, my goodness. Why was that
written, that he is your prayer? That he had not despised the
prayer of the destitute? That was written for this reason,
that you and I may read it and know that he is your prayer.
There are going to be times when you and I go to the Lord, and
he is not going to listen. He may be listening, but we don't
know it. He is going to be silent. And this is where faith is going
to have to be exercised. What did that woman do when the
judge wouldn't hear her for a while? She kept coming. And she kept
coming. Isn't that just like this woman?
He spake not a word. Silence. Silence. That's a terrible
opposition. But faith can overcome it. Secondly,
this. And this is very interesting
here. Another opposition she faced was these disciples. Look
at this. This thing is amazing. Peter,
no doubt Peter, because he's the spokesman. No doubt he was
the chief one, rose up and said, Lord, Lord, she's crying after
us. Send her away. Send her away. You know something? It was good
that this happened. Sometimes the Lord delays answering
our prayers, and I tell you what it does, it stirs up this faith. It causes us to exercise faith. If you don't get any exercise,
Bob was talking about his arm being in that swing. He said
already his arm is getting much smaller than this one. You know
why? He's not exercising. That's what happens to faith.
If we don't have to exercise it, it gets weak. So the Lord
delays his prayer, and boy then, we have to exercise faith. Here
is this opposition. These fellows said, Lord, send
her away. Send her away. Why was that a good thing? Well,
what if this woman convinced Peter and John and James to plead
for her with the Lord? What if she said, would you guys
go to him for me? And Peter went to the Lord and
said, Lord, look at this poor woman. Oh, she's destitute. Her daughter's grievously back.
Lord, would you please hear her? Oh, that would have been wonderful.
But what do you think she would have did if that had done it?
She wouldn't have been praying herself, would she? I want the Lord's people to pray
for me, and I know you do too, but I don't want them to pray
instead of me. We love these apostles, but we
don't pray, Lord, hear these apostles. I want Him to hear
me for myself and you do too. I tell you sometimes it's good
when the Lord shuts out His children and they can't help us. You just can't help me. I'm in
trouble and you can't help me. And it seems like you've forsaken
me. And I'm just shut up to Him.
Ain't that a good thing? I had a fellow, I knew a fellow
one time, and they called, and they said, his wife called and
said, I knew his wife, she's a very fine Christian lady, and
she said, my husband, they think he's dying, and he's lost, and
he wants somebody to come and pray with him. Well, I found
out later he wanted somebody to come pray for him. But we
went, some of us went and prayed for him, and he professed to
be saved, and he got well. He got well, never seen him again.
He got well. But then, after a while, The
poor man got under conviction, he got in a miserable shape.
And he sought the Lord for himself. And I asked him, I said, what
happened to you before in the hospital? He said, Bruce, I'll
tell you exactly what happened. He said, I laid there and I listened
to you fellows praying for me. But he said, this time, I prayed
for myself. I listened to you fellows seek
the Lord on my behalf. The first time, this time, I
went to the Lord myself. I tell you, it's a good thing
when the Lord shuts us out from any help from anybody else. I
remember one time in the church service years ago, maybe we was
doing some things back then we shouldn't have been doing, but
a lot of us was up around the altar praying. This one lady
was praying, asking the Lord to save her, and this fellow
that pastor's church not far from here, most of you know her,
he got up and went up there and whispered to that lady, he said,
the Lord told me that he'd already saved you. Well, ain't that wonderful? The
Lord told him. Why didn't the Lord tell her?
If I'd have been heard, that's what I'd have said. Well, that's
great that he told you, but I'm not talking to you. I'm not seeking
you. And you're not praying for me.
Let the Lord tell me that he saved me. It's a wonderful thing,
brothers and sisters, when you seek the Lord for yourself and
he hears you and answers you. I tell you, we're going to die
by ourselves, aren't we? You ain't going to be there to help
me when I die. When my breath leaves this body, I'm going to
climb up that hill to the gates of heaven, and I'm going to lock
on that door for myself. You ain't going to stand there
with me. And in the judgment, I'm going to be there to answer
for myself. Oh, these disciples said, send
her away. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a
good thing. Shut a man up to Christ. Shut
a man up to seeking the Lord for himself. Jacob was left alone. What a blessing. Jacob was left
alone. And he had to seek the Lord for
himself. His wife and his children weren't there. His brethren weren't
there. His servants were not there.
He was left alone. And he sought the Lord by himself.
That's a wonderful thing. Here's another opposition in
verse 24. Woman, I am not sent, but unto
the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Now, the Lord says two
things here. He says, Woman, the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. Who is the house of Israel? That
was the whole nation of the Jews. Christ didn't come to the Gentiles,
did He? He came to the Jew. He was a Jew and He came to the
Jewish nation. He came to His own. He always
preached to the Jews. He even told his apostles. He
said, don't you go to the Gentiles. It's not time for that yet. I'm
not even going to the Gentiles. And that's what he told this
woman. Woman, I'm sent to the house of Israel. But he gets
more specific than that, doesn't he? He says, I'm not sent, but
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. You know what he's
saying there? I'm sent for my elect. This is a big house, you
see. Jacob with all this natural seed,
his children. This is a big house. And I've
come here to this house, but I've come here for my elect in
this house. He told some of these Pharisees,
he said, you know why you don't believe me? Oh, you're Jews.
You're Jews, he said, and you're Jacob's seed. You can trace your
lineage back to Jacob. I know you're Jacob's children.
But he said, you're not one of my sheep. If you was one of my
sheep, you'd believe me. And you believe not because you're
not one of my sheep. And that's what he's telling this woman
for crying out loud. Here's a woman. Lord, help me.
And he said, Woman, I'm just sent for my elect. My word. I don't know where you get over
something like that. Can you imagine that? Can you
imagine praying and all of a sudden the scripture comes to you, only
the elect are going to believe. All the elect are going to be
saved. Nobody else. That would be a trial, wouldn't
it? How does she handle that? Well,
he told us here in verse 25, and she came and worshipped him
and said, Lord, I don't know anything about election. I don't
know what you purpose. I am not skilled to understand
what God has willed, what God has planned. I only know I need
you. I just need you. Oh, election is no opposition
to prayer, is it? If it wasn't an opposition to
this woman's prayer, don't let it be to our prayer. There's another time when I can
figure out about election. But now, now, I need Him. I take Him at His word and deed. Christ died for sinners, this
I read, and in my heart I find the need. I don't know if I'm
one of his or not, but I know this, I need him. I'm vexed,
and I'm burdened, and I need him. And I tell people that, oh, I've
searched the Scripture, and I see in the Scripture all these questions. I don't know what the Scripture
teaches about this and that. Why worry about it? Do you need
him? Do you need Him, this glorious
person? Is He the only one that can meet
your need? Then come to Him, and these other
things will take care of themselves. Will they not? I'm trying to
figure out from one of God's elects or not. I'll tell you
how you can figure it out. When you find yourself in Christ.
When you find yourself in Him. I never heard about election.
Well, I was lost, and I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad I didn't.
I'd just been one more burden I'd had to bear, because I'd
have thought, sure, I'm not one of them. I'm not one of them. In verse 26, here's
another opposition. Look at this. And he answered
and said, it is not fit, woman, it's not good to take the children's
bread and cast it to you dogs. Boy, I tell you, you can learn
more about yourself in prayer than any place else. Look what this woman learned
about herself. Woman, I tell you, you're a dog. And you know that didn't offend
her either. When I tell you, you're a dog, that may offend
you. I even have to be careful how
I say it. You're a pretty little dog. Oh, you're such a cute little
dog. But you're a dog. But boy, when
the Lord says it, He comes out playing, woman, you're a dog.
You're a dog. You're a low-down, chipped-off
dog. And it don't offend you when He teaches you that. Truth,
Lord, I'm a dog. Some man said this. He said,
You see a man that's high-minded? You see somebody that's proud
and thinks well of himself, and he's boastful? He said there's
two things evidently that man's not doing. One, he's not reading
his Bible with understanding, or he wouldn't think so highly
about himself. And number two, he's not seeking
the Lord with all his heart. We learn a lot about ourselves
when we pray. And one of the things we learn
about ourselves is we're no good. We're no good. We've got one
thing to bring with us to commend us to God. We don't have any
merit. We don't have any right. We don't
have any faithfulness. We've got nothing. I tell you,
there are some wonderful statements made in the Bible like this,
I am but dust and ashes. There is not a just man upon
earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Man at his best state is
altogether vanity. I abhor myself and repent in
destination. Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man." And you know what is unique about all of those statements.
And you know what they all have in common? Every one of them
was said during prayer. Prayer has a way of humbling
us. For therefore, we come face to face with a holy God. And
when we see Him, we won't think very highly of ourselves. Woman,
you're a dog. Truth, Lord. That's the truth. Lord, you've spoken the truth.
I am indeed a dog. Verse 28, O woman, great is your
faith. Why did she keep on praying?
Why did she keep on through all this opposition until she finally
got an answer? Oh, woman, great is your faith.
The exercise of faith. In spite of the opposition, she
never lost heart. She believed the Lord was a God
who heard prayer. If he didn't answer at first,
go back again. Don't give up. She depended upon
nobody to get an answer for her. She would get it for herself.
Great is thy faith, O woman. She wasn't trying to figure out
God's decrees. She wasn't trying to figure out
what God had purposed. She would leave that for another
time. All she knew was this. Lord, I need your answer to my
problem. She submitted to the Lord's estimation
of herself. And she plead instead of merit,
mercy. Mercy. Oh woman, great is thy
faith. And she believed that since the
Lord had cared enough. Now listen, this is so important.
She believed that since the Lord cared enough to finally speak
to her, even though he rebuked her, that now she could out-plead
him. She could out-plead him. What
if he had kept silent? Oh, that would have been the
death blow to prayer, would it not? She would have finally given
up. But finally, he starts talking to her. Yes, Bruce, but look
how he talked to her. Woman, you're a dog. Woman, I
ain't sittin' for the elect. Yes, but he's talking to her,
ain't he? Did you ever go to the Lord in
prayer, and you begin to think of your sins? You begin to think
these things you've done, boy, you've done this and you've done
that, and you're a mess. Don't get discouraged when that
happens. Maybe get discouraged when it don't happen. Because
that's when the Lord's beginning to reason with you, you see.
He's coming to you, and He's rebuking you for sin. Yes, but
He's talking to you, ain't He? Remember when Jacob was left
alone? I mentioned just a minute ago
he was left alone, and there wrestled with him a man, and
it was said he prevailed not against him. Who didn't prevail?
This man who came down to wrestle with Jacob did not prevail with
Jacob. Jacob out-wrestled him. He out-wrestled
him. And that's what this woman did.
She out pleaded the Lord. Every argument that he'd come
up with. Mercy, Lord. Mercy. I know that. Mercy. Mercy, Lord. And that man that was wrestling
with Jacob was the Lord of glory, was it not? I have seen God face
to face. And he finally said, Jacob, let
me go. Let me go. Let me go. I ain't going to let
you go until you bless me. I'll let my sin go. I'll let my high sense of myself
go. I'll let my own self-righteousness
and merit go. I'll let my human wisdom go.
I'll let my indifference go. I'll let my procrastination go.
But I won't let you go until you bless me." Boy, there's faith
in exercising. And if he's talking to you, when
you go to prayer, and you feel like you're a dog That He's talking
to you. You see all your other failures
and it comes to your mind that you've got no right rhyme or
reason to be heard of the Lord. And everything seems to be against
you, even the purpose of God may seem to be against you. That's
Him talking with you. Come and let us reason together,
saith the Lord. He wants to wrestle with you.
Wrestle with Him. Don't let Him go. Give Him no
rest. And He'll hear you finally. He'll
hear you and He'll say like He said to Paul, I give you this
thorn in the flesh, and now I'm going to give you grace to bear.
Or He'll answer you and He'll say, I'm going to give you your
request. According to your faith, so be it. But dear soul, pray. Pray and don't faint. May God bless His Word.