Luke chapter 18. We'll just read the first number of verses. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that is, the Lord Jesus, 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. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not, as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. and the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. We turn into one or two other portions of Scripture just in a few moments, but I'm sure you all know this portion well, and as I say, it's very familiar indeed. And it's the opening words of the Lord Jesus were this indeed, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. And you know, if you're praying for a family or other things that you maybe pray much for and a long time for, It's very easy, after a while, to give up. It's very easy to say, well, the Lord mustn't want to answer this. Maybe this isn't in God's will. And, you know, it's very easy to stop. And sometimes that's the trial. Because if we're praying for a mother and we do give it up, especially a loved one, it's a bad thing on our part. because it shows them we're not going to persevere with this. And the Lord does say this here, that men ought always to pray, and of course, that's women also, and not to faint. It's so easy to faint. I prayed for my mother. I was the first one in my family saved. And a year or two after that, my young sister got saved. But I prayed for her mother for a long, long time. And finally, thank God, she did get saved. But, you know, I want to say this just as a wee word of testimony. My mother had a stroke for a long, many years. And when she got saved, because I didn't see, how could I put it, a big shining face and her jumping about like with beans, I thought, she mustn't be saved. And I remember getting down on my knees again to pray at the bedside that the Lord would save her. And as soon as I started to pray this, I believe in my heart was the Spirit of God said, you prayed for your mother for years. And she told you she got saved, and you don't believe it. And you know, I stopped, and I realized how foolish I was. Because I just didn't see what I wanted to see. I thought it wasn't so, but I did see a change in my mother over that period of time, a definite change, and I thank God for that. And I'm only saying that, by the way, so often we pray for someone, and even when it's answered, because we didn't see the thing that we wanted to see or expected to see, we can sometimes rule it out. And we can be so wrong. And, you know, that was a little thing in my life that I was taught, were not to look always at the outward appearance. My mother, she didn't go to church much because of the stroke. She felt very embarrassed about that and very hard to get around. But there was things I seen. I remember reading her, lifting her Bible one day. I would give her her Bible, Eunice and I. And it put on it that famous verse in Isaiah 43. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. and she'd stroked out that part and she'd put her name, Connie, in it. And I said, Mum, who told you to do that? She said, Oh no, I've just done that. "'cause I'm saved.'" And, you know, that spoke to my heart, too. So, I'm only saying that by the way. So often, we pray for things, and when things happen, maybe not because the way we thought they should happen, we can have doubts. But that proved wrong, thank God, in my mother's life. This judge, we're told in the Scripture by the Lord Jesus, there was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. No time for man, and unfortunately, no time for God. No fear of God in his heart. And of course, those in authority. should be different. We know that's not always the case, especially today in the world we live in. But here was a man, and he had no time for God. If you look at one verse in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 22, and verse 3, it just says these words, "'Thus saith the Lord, "'Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor. And do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow. Neither shed innocent blood in this place." And that was spoken to the king and those in authority. And this judge should have been doing his duty. But he didn't. He was an unjust judge. But the widow, she was coming to him. She wanted this case dealt with. It was like a lawsuit. And she wanted it dealt with. And she came, and she came, and she came. And then, of course, he said to himself, "'He would not for a while,' verse 4, "'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.' "'So he done what he should have done, And he answered her request because he did not want her pestering him. He wanted to be rid of her. And that's why he done it, as the scripture says. And, you know, it's wonderful to see this, that the Lord is setting this out as a comparison. The Lord is not like that, thank God. Jesus said, hear what he said. God shall answer his own elect. Here's what the Lord Jesus said. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" And I believe, you know, we should be encouraged more and more by these verses of Scripture. Because you may pray a long time, I'm praying a long time for my sons again, that they'll be restored, and also other members of the family. And I'm sure many of you are the same. And sometimes you can even pray for somebody that is gone. I don't mean you pray after they're gone, but maybe you've prayed for somebody and they are gone, and you don't know what's happened. All you can really do is trust in the Lord, that God answers prayer. And, you know, I do believe that, too. I've prayed for loved ones, and they've gone, and you wonder just many things. But, you know, the Lord Jesus is setting a standard here, a principle that, like the woman that came to the unjust judge and who came continually, The Lord's encouraging us to do the same. And the thing is, He's not. The judge was unjust. Our God is just. The judge was unconcerned. Our Lord is concerned, 1 Peter 5 and 7. Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. And the Lord does care for His people. And oftentimes we wonder, why do we have to come so often? And I think it's just simply, if we're asking for, especially for a loved one, God is not in a hurry. You and I want things done tomorrow, or yesterday, I should say. But the Lord is not in a hurry. Sometimes I've heard of people that were just saved, and their families, nearly all of them, went saved very quick. But it doesn't always happen like that. I've heard of others who have prayed for years, and then they see loved ones saved. And you know, we've got to remember, we've got to keep coming, and putting our requests, and pouring out our heart to the Lord, And God will answer. I believe that in my heart that He will answer. And that's one of the reasons 1 Peter 5 and 7, "'Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.'" The Lord loves His children, and the Lord delights to hear us asking Him. And then, the unjust judge wanted rid of her, but the Lord to us is long-suffering, and He's kind. and he longs for his people to come and call upon him. And you know, believer, that's what we should do, and continually do, and don't give up. And that's why the Lord spoke this parable. It was so that you and I should not faint, but we should keep praying, keep praying until the answer comes through. And you know, we are to come boldly. Hebrews 4, 5, 15, and 16 tells us that we're to come boldly onto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Do you ever get down to pray sometimes and you think your prayers have hit the ceiling? I'm sure we've all had that experience. And sometimes you can't seem to even get the words out in your own heart, and you feel, oh, dear, dear. And sometimes, I know it's happened when I've got up, almost despondent, because I just couldn't seem to pray. And that's the time, often, people say we should continue to pray. But you know, the Lord hears. He knows all about us. He knows more about us than we know ourselves. He knows our thoughts. He knows the state of our heart. And we have many failures, and we sin daily. And we need to, of course, confess those sins. We need to walk in the light of God's Word. I'm speaking very much of myself and each one of us. But, you know, God will answer. The other lovely wee portion is just over the chapters of Luke 11. And I love this about The Lord Jesus says again in verse 5 of Luke 11, "'Which of you shall have a friend, "'and shall go unto him at midnight "'and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves? "'For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, "'and I have nothing to set before him.'" And he from within shall answer and say, trouble me not, the door is now shut, my children are with me in bed, I cannot rise and give thee. And the Lord Jesus says, I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his opportunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. You know, we've got to be persistent. We have got to keep asking, and the Lord delights in His people asking, because He's a good Father, and He loves His children. And doesn't He say Himself even in this portion? "'Everyone that asketh receiveth. "'He that seeketh findeth. "'To him that knocketh it shall be opened. "'If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, "'will he give him a stone? "'If he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a certain? Or shall I ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Yes, we have to ask for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who will teach us how to pray. And in Matthew, it tells us, too, that He'll give us good things. And, you know, we have to pray, we have to be bold before the throne of grace, in the quiet place, and come before God because God answers prayer. The man wanted bread, and because of his persistence, he got it from his neighbour. And, you know, you and I have to be persistent in prayer Faith asks, hope seeks, and love knocks. We've got to keep asking. We've got to keep seeking. And we've got to keep knocking. And trust God that the Lord answers prayer. And you know, we've all seen answers to prayer. And there's prayers in our lives. I'm sure all of our lives that we have not yet seen answered. But God is faithful. And I believe God answers prayer. What would be the point in praying if we don't believe God answers prayer? And there's much said in the Scriptures about praying. And the Lord exhorting us to pray. And again, I think this one person alone shows it. The unjust judge. No thought of the woman. Just want it rid of her. But God loves his people. and He desires them to come and ask, and He'd give them in His time, and He'll give them what they need, and He'll give us our daily needs, He gives us our daily bread, and He gives us many blessings that so often we take for granted. You know, when you think of this COVID thing over the last two years, what it took away from us, the liberties that we had, that really none of us even dreamt would happen, and suddenly they were taken from us. You know, you weren't allowed to do this because of the illness and so on. And yet, if you'd have thought of it a few months ago, you would never have dreamed that would have happened. And it's things like that that so often we can take for granted that could be taken from us. And that's why, too, I think we've always got to be full of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for all the benefits and all the blessings that he has given us. Now, just with those few thoughts, we're going to get down very shortly to prayer. I do pray that the Lord... It's a very simple portion, but it's a lovely portion, and I encourage you to read it. Now, there's another lovely hymn here, given to the Alistair and Peter, because it's a children's hymn. But the words of it are really beautiful. I don't know whether you've ever really read the words. 7-1-5. I'll just read them, if you don't mind, just before we sing them. I often say my prayers, but do I ever pray? And do the wishes of my heart go with the words I say? I may as well kneel down and worship gods of stone, as offer to the living God a prayer of words alone. For words without the heart the Lord will never hear, nor will he to those lips attend whose prayers are not sincere. Lord, teach me what I need, and teach me how to pray, nor let me ask thee for thy grace, not meaning what I say.