Wholehearted

"And he told them a parable to the effect that they
ought to always pray and not lose heart." - Luke 18:1

Then lifting up his hands he prayed, “Dear Father, we thank
Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.” - George Müller

George Müller was a missionary in Bristol, England. He cared for more than 200,000 orphans over his lifetime. Müller was a man of prayer to the extent that he never asked for money. He simply prayed. One morning he was up early, with nothing to give the children to eat. Soon the children in the orphanage came down stairs for breakfast. As they stand looking at George he said, “Now children you know we must be in time for school.”  Then lifting up his hands he prayed, “Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.”

There was a knock at the door. The baker stood there, and said, “Mr. Müller, I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn’t have bread for breakfast, and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.” Mr. Müller thanked the baker, and no sooner had he left, when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it.

That's wholehearted prayer laced with faith.

Have you ever needed God to move in your life, so you prayed night and day?  You prayed with the potency of David. Like Elijah calling down fire from heaven you cried out to God. Maybe you were like Daniel praying three times a day even when everyone around you wished you would stop.

The parable or story Jesus shares in Luke 18:1-8 is about that kind of prayer. The theme in these verses is persistence. Yet, it is also about the heart of God and the heart of his disciples.

Pause for a moment to read Luke 18:1-8.

Here is a bit of what Luke reveals about God.

- God listens when we cry out to him.
- God gives justice to his children.
- God shows compassion to the marginalized.
- God moves quickly, in other words, he responds without delay.

Jesus defies our preconceived ideas about God's character. He is begging us to internalize the goodness, faithfulness, love, mercy, patience, and justice of the Father. Jesus encourages our  persistence in prayer.

Then he says, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Faith is the Greek word pistes. Do a quick study, and you will find it means to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance; to have full confidence in or believe w/ allegiance to.

Faith and trust in God over what?

I want to point out three realities in our modern world that easily divert our faith/trust. They are the empire, self, and performance.

Empire
I think there is a real temptation to trust the empire over God. Consider how God's people would turn to a nation in times of hardship or distress. Israel was ready to go back to Egypt due to a lack of provision in the wilderness after God had just delivered them out of the hand of the oppressor. (Exodus 16:1-3)  We openly or secretly trust the next leader to get us out of this mess and save us from all our fears.

Self
Could it be like the majority of our western culture, putting faith in yourself is the temptation? “You do you” is the mantra of the day, and it sounds all too good. It is the temptation to lean into your desires, wants, dreams, and aspirations for the purpose of pleasing yourself. In other words, trust yourself.

Performance
Then again, maybe you are the religious type, so the temptation is to trust your performance or behavior. You hope your performance or piety before God will be the ticket. This seems to be how the Pharisees were bent. If only you would clean yourself up. Try washing your hands before you eat. Change your behavior to get freedom from this mess. I heard a pastor say, "This makes the gospel sound like….‘you suck, try harder, God is worth it.’"

Here's the major point I want to make. Modern culture, the self, and performance so easily make us half-hearted. Your identity or the places you draw significance can too easily get wrapped up in the areas that only pile on the shame and guilt. These pursuits draw us away from the cry of our heart. We give up territory in our heart.  We become half-hearted.

Now, look back at the first verse. "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." Draw strength from the promise of God today. God is listening even when you think he is not responding. When you don't see a change in the relationship, don't give up on prayer. If you need God to move at work, take it to him. Don't lose heart. If you desire justice, God is there to answer your request quickly. Don't lose your heart, Christ is truly our hope and stay.

Lift your hands to the sky and thank God for the food, or whatever you are about to receive.