Sermon Summary:
How can I not have a prayer stir up in my heart when my generation seems impossible? Are you not the God of Miracles? Are you not the God who made man out of dust and who caused the barren to give birth? Are you not the God who paid for the sins of this world? Are you not the God who loves mercy?
To know his word and to stand on his word, and then to hold God to his word—I wonder how many people in the body of Christ actually know what it means to come to the throne of God boldly. Who am I to hold God to his word? That is the feeling. The only reason to press on is but the cross. The only reason to press on is I'm not praying in my own name. I can't risk not going to the King. God doesn't owe us. We can never earn the right for somehow God to have to hear us. What God has spoken, you can stand on.
We see Jesus explain this: that man always ought to pray and not lose heart. You want to know the will of God for your life? He desires for you to always pray and to never lose heart in the way that you pray. Then he shares this parable of the widow—the persistent widow that comes to a judge. Now, a widow was about the lowest status figure in that time. A widow could not have inheritance; a widow really could not make this judge in any way really take her case. Yet Jesus chooses in this parable to display this widow that just will not give up. She keeps going after this evil judge that doesn't want to give her justice, and this widow ends up overthrowing that judge. She ends up winning over the judge, and the judge crumbles under her. He literally says, "Woman, you're grinding me out," and he literally gives in to her. This widow, that had no power, no status if you will, compared to the judge that would have had one of the highest statuses at that time—this widow wins and gets her way. Why? Because she knew the law. The law that God has spoken was on her side. God had made laws specifically to protect widows, specifically for widows to have provision, specifically for widows to be protected. She knew what God had said.
That men would always have a prayer life and be men in their generation, that men would never lose heart, never lose hope, never lose valiancy, not losing Divine Vision over that generation—that's why he gave this parable. So that his followers would always have a consistent prayer life and never struggle with giving up, never struggle with not knowing what to say in prayer. That we would run to him and boldly hold on to what he has said like this widow did and see come to pass what God placed in our hearts, what God called us to pray for. This widow was able to overthrow the judge because she knew what God had said.
We see the same thing happening in Egypt far before this time. The word tells us God remembered his covenant. That is the outcome of the people of God beginning to cry out, and the word tells us God remembers his covenant. It came to the forefront of the Father's mind, if you will, as if God was saying, "Now I find faith in the hearts of my people." Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, gave you his righteousness so that there's nothing for you to fulfill anymore. But he did not abolish the law so that the blessings of the law are not done away with. Church, in not abolishing the law, Christ himself brings all of the blessings upon your life. The requirements he fulfilled, and the blessings come upon those who own his righteousness.
Now, Christ gave his righteousness to sinners that do not deserve it. Why? Because they believed on his name for the forgiveness of their sins. If you do not know what God gave unto you to stand on, so that you would have a prayer life and not grow weary, if you do not know what he has spoken, you will not know how to hold God to his word—how to hold God accountable to his own word. If you have a hard time believing that every single blessing of the law that once separated you from God because you did not yet believe that you were forgiven because of the blood of Christ, you still believed that you were guilty because of sin. There was a time where you still had shame, there was a time where you still felt like that widow—no rights, no resources, no way to overthrow this judge. And you did not know the law. You did not know what God had done for you. You did not know what God had spoken, and there is no way to move forward.
Those that have been regenerated by the blood of Christ, because they believed on him, they're made part of a new generation. They are regenerated from the generation they were a part of, and now they receive a new identity. They're placed in a new generation, a new lineage. They're now part of the lineage of Christ. Those that are in the lineage of Christ inherit from Christ, and all those that believe on him and are placed in his lineage—every single one that receives his righteousness now inherits from him. What do we inherit? Everything that was his. He died. The inheritance came free. Everything that belongs to Christ is now yours as well. Every blessing that he earned because he fulfilled the law. The Father wanted you to have the righteousness of Christ. If you have his righteousness, you get the blessings that the law has in store for those that fulfilled it. Christ did the work; you simply inherited it. You did nothing for it.
Church, you need to know what God says, what he has done, what he has spoken, in order for you to be able to come before him boldly and to hold God to his word. God will move in his covenant if your heart remembers and you cry out to God and hold him to his word. In our generation, believers, unbelievers, pastors, church—there is such a demonic oppression on this generation. They want to hope in him, but there's such a demonic oppression on God's people. Pastors don't know what to do. Believers don't know what to do. They're in a rescue situation; they're hiding, cowering away altogether, clumped up and talking about the Lord when they're together. But in the workplace, they're afraid. Around unbelievers, they're not sure if God would carry their words into the hearts of unbelievers. They're not sure if the Spirit will actually do what the Spirit was sent for. They don't know.
People that hope in other things but God—people that hope that if they live somehow holy, if they behave somehow holy, whatever that means (only God can define that one)—but people have raised up in pride, trying to say, "No, this is holy living." Where are the people of God that come before the throne boldly and say, "God, the enemy of our soul seems to think he can still reign in this generation, but God, would you remember your covenant? God, would you remember the law that is on our side now? Would you remember your son who fulfilled it? God, remember what you've promised. God, you said if there's one left found in this nation, the enemy will not stand before you. He will flee seven ways." Where are the people of God that come before his throne boldly, that remember what God has done, that remember what God will do in this generation? Where are they?
But the enemy comes in with distractions to rob your time and to make it ineffective for your eternity. He seems to come and go and just bring fear upon even the people of God. In our generation, it's no different from the time of King Jehoshaphat. So much power seemed to be in the enemy camp, but that man learned to pray a different way. At one point in his life, Jehoshaphat tried, just like I believe most people in the body of Christ. He tried to serve the Lord; he made his mistakes. He didn't have a perfect walk, but he begins to remember who his God is. He begins to remember the stories of old. He begins to remember what this God has done, and he begins to almost accuse God. He becomes mindful again of who his God is, and it causes him to cry out in a way that he had not cried out until this moment in his life. And he begins to say, "Are you not the God who is in heaven, high over every kingdom? Are you not the God who delivers? Are you not the God who sets free? Are you not that God?"
How can I not have a prayer stir up in my heart when my generation seems impossible? Are you not the God of Miracles? Are you not the God who made man out of dust and who caused the barren to give birth? Are you not the God who paid for the sins of this world? Are you not the God who loves mercy? Are you not going to make yourself known in this generation as the God who delivers? God, will you not make yourself known? Who are you? Are you not this God I read about? Are you not this God? Are you not the God who said you would pour out your Spirit and power would come upon your people and they would be your witnesses? Are you not that God?
-Pastor Stan Mons