The Power of Persistent Prayer

If you brought your Bibles today, would you get it out right now? I want you to hold it up in the air. I want you to believe in this book. Hold it up in the air. Hold it up in the air. If you didn't bring your Bible, that's okay. I still want you to participate. Everyone on the count of three, shout word. One, two, three. Word. We're going to get into God's word that God's word will get into us. Today, I'm going to do a part two of take it by force. It's a message that started last week, and I want to continue with this theme. It was Jesus in the book of Matthewap 11 verse that said from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force.

The violent take it by force. They take it by force. Now, now we need to just clarify real quickly before we go into the message. This is not Everyone shout, "Not talking about physical violence." Jesus is talking about the kingdom. The kingdom has suffered to get where it it it was when he said these words. And if we're going to advance the kingdom, we're going to have to suffer a little. We're going to have to go for it. We're going to have to go in. We're going to have to advance in. We're going to have to take it by force. So, we're not talking violence. We're talking kingdom. Now, if you're new to church and you wonder what do I mean by kingdom? I'm talking about King Jesus and his way. It's the way of the king. It's what happens in our hearts.

So, if what's happening in your heart is King Jesus where you surrender to King Jesus, you submit to King Jesus, then you're a part of his kingdom. You want his way, his will in your life. And Jesus spoke often about the kingdom. So, we ought to be intrigued, inspired. We ought to go after the kingdom. Now, let's just clarify what the kingdom is not. In Luke 17 and verse 20 and 21, being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming in the ways that can be observed. Nor will they say, look, here it is there. For behold, Jesus said, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." So the kingdom, Jesus clarifies, is not

a place where we go. The kingdom is the person, King Jesus, and his way. We want to understand his way. We want to know Jesus. If you missed last week's message, take it by force. Would you please go watch it? Would you go to YouTube and find it and just go to find Journey and Bend on YouTube or go to our website? You could find all of our sermons there. Or or if you have any device, you could download our app. Just type in three words, journey inbend, and you'll find all of our sermons there. Because I want you to know where we're going today. So if this is confusing at all, I want you to see the theme. And these are the words of Jesus. Take it by force. That's what the violent do. The violent take it by force. In the book of James 4:2, he gives us a perspective why

we have so many problems. Have you ever wondered like why do we have murders in this world? Why do people get divorced? Why do people fight? Why do all these things happen? James chapter 4:2 he tells us you desire and you do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, he says, because you do not ask. So the issues we have today, according to the book of James, all of the wrong that we see in this world is simply because we're not asking for it to be right. The kingdom is the way of God. So the kingdom is making right that which is wrong. And James says you have not

because you ask not. So if we would just ask God, then God is able to meet us right where we are. And if this is true today, we must be a praying people that ask. So the title of today's sermon is this. The power of persistent prayer. The power of persistent prayer. Would you say that with me? The power of persistent prayer. We must be persistent in prayer. One thing I've learned in this world is that if you want to be an expert at anything, it doesn't happen by accident. You can't do something just one time and then you're absolutely the best at it. In fact, to become an expert, it requires hard work.

It takes time, consistency, repetition. And so we see a parallel with prayer. If you want powerful prayer is not a oneand done. If you want to have powerful prayer in your life, it's not going to come with praying every once in a while. I can tell you confidently. I can tell what you believe about God by your prayer life. I can tell this message is going to sting today. There's some intensity in this room. And because of that, I believe the Holy Spirit wants to speak to your heart today. It is never too late to be a prayer warrior.

If you want to get to know God, you must pray. Prayer is partnering with God. prayer. Contrary to what we often see, especially in our cultural context, it's not a beginning and an end. Dear Lord, and then it ends with amen. We're going to see it is so much more. Prayer is taking back that which the the devil has stolen. Prayer is partnering with God to advance the kingdom of God, not only in my life, but my family, in the church, in our city, in our state, in our nation, and around the world. that we're going to believe God's best is not behind us. God's best is yet to come. Therefore, prayer is the most powerful thing you can do in your life. Prayer is the one thing the devil does not want you to do. Prayer is the one thing the

devil wants you to give up on. Prayer is the one thing that the devil does not want you to be consistent or persistent so that you never experience the power of God in your life. But I'm learning not to settle with where I've been. I'm learning not to settle with where I am right now. God invites us onto a journey with him to experience his power in our lives. So please church, can we not sit back time and watch the world go to hell in a hand basket? It's time for us to be the living stones of God to operate in the kingdom of God. That we would be a praying church. Jesus said that he will build his church and not even the gates of hell will prevail. So, it's time for us to believe God, storm the gates of hell and take back that which the devil has stolen.

If we are a praying church, we're a believing church. We have all authority in the name of Jesus. He us the keys of the kingdom. So, I declare today, Central Oregon shall be saved. [cheering] And I know it sounds extreme. I know it sounds like something a preacher would say. I know it sounds audacious to actually believe that this region would never be the same because of Jesus Christ, but is a movement of God too hard for God? Is there anything too great? The Lord would speak through the prophet Jeremiah and declare, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?" Hear the question of God today. Is

anything too hard for me? Is someone so far gone they can't be saved? Is someone so addicted they can never be set free and healed? Is any person so bitter that God couldn't remove that bitterness and replace it with his righteousness? Is there anyone so depressed that they couldn't be filled with the peace and the joy of God bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit? My God can do anything. And every single one of you here today is a living testimony of who God is and what he's able to do. You ought to testify with your lips, is anything too hard for God? If he could save me, then he can save anyone. And he's not finished yet. Jesus promised to return. And until he does, we ought to believe his best. Jesus said in John 15:7, "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done

for you." Hear the promise of Jesus Christ. There comes a promise that anything is possible, but you must connect to the King. There's got to be a kingdom connection. You've got to take this so seriously that you want King Jesus and his word in your heart. As the Psalmist declared, "I've hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you." You take Jesus so seriously that you abide in him more than anything else in your life. Your identity is not in your career. It's not in your kids. It's not in anything you've done or that was done to you. You've got to identify with Jesus. Do you know the idea of being a Christian? It came at a cost. The early church were called Christians not in a good way. It was derogatory that you represent Christ. If you're going to follow Jesus, you've got to represent him at all cost.

Once said regarding prayer in 1 John 5:14, this is the confidence that we have toward him. That's Jesus. You know, my friends, you can have confidence today. I know someone came in here with insecurity. I don't know enough. I I don't have it figured out. I don't know enough about the Bible. I don't I'm not sure quite how to pray. But you know, God wants you to know you can have confidence today. You can leave here with confidence. It is yours. This is your confidence towards Jesus. That if we ask anything, someone shout anything. Anything according to his will. He hears us. We either take God at his word or we don't. Who sets the bounds to what we can do or what we can ask for? Can God be limited?

Is there anything too hard for God? Is there anything too much that God would just say, "I don't know if I can do that." I'm here to tell you today that if we haven't received it, either we haven't asked for or we got to keep asking for it. But really, there's a question that I want to ask. This is rhetorical in your heart. Have you given up on God? Is there anything that you've been praying for you didn't receive and so now you're no longer praying for that? If you've given up on God, God sent me here so that you would hear this message. The power of persistent prayer. God will never give up on you. He loves you so much. He loves you so much. Oh my God loves you. Receive today the grace of God. He's a God of fresh

starts, new beginnings. It's never too late. He loves to get the glory. So go ahead and let God get the glory through your life. Maybe even when you gave up on yourself, it's time to get up. It's time to go after God. It's time to get into his word and let his word get into you. It's time to invite the Holy Spirit to work through you. Today I want to look at several different examples of persistent prayer so that we would see this power. Jesus promised it in Acts 1:8. He said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." So what does this look like? How can we live this out in our lives? Let me start with one particular place in Luke chapter 18. If you brought your Bible, I want you to turn there. Luke chapter 18. The author Luke is writing

about the life of Jesus. Jesus has just spoken about the kingdom. He's displayed the kingdom. The kingdom often has three common themes. That is healing, deliverance, and the gospel. We see that Jesus heals the sick. He casts out demons and he preaches the good news. And as we come to Luke chapter 18 with that theme of the kingdom that that Jesus will return, Luke tells us in chapter 18 verse1 and he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always someone shall always always to pray and not lose heart. Now we see in this opening verse today a basic principle.

If you're losing heart, you're probably not praying. So, there's a place of of commonality of of of a prayerful life is a courageous life. A prayerful life is one that takes God at his word. So, so we either we can be discouraged and defeated or we can live in victory in prayer. I'm just wondering if we could just work on our shoutbacks today. Come on, somebody. Either you're going to be defeated or you're going to be more than a conqueror. You're going to take God at his word. So, either I'm going to take the healing that Jesus promised me or I'm going to stay in sickness. I'm going to live in scarcity as an orphan or I'm going to be a child of God and believe that everything is his because he's

still Jehovah Gyra, the Lord, my provider. Either I'm going to take him at his word or I want. So, so Jesus, he's going to teach us a parable. understand he's going to teach it because we need it. You're going to get discouraged. You're going to lose heart. You're going to want to stop praying. You're going to think that God doesn't hear you. And so, he's teaching us something so that at just the right time, you would take him at his word because his word never fails. Oh, this whole world will pass away, but not God's word. It's for you. So, receive today what God has for you. Let me read this again. He told them a parable. A parable is a fictional story with a spiritual truth. You often find the person of God in a parable and you usually will find yourself in a parable. He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Here comes the parable.

Verse two, Jesus said, "In a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man." There's only two characters in this story. We're introduced to the first. It's a judge. Now, it's not a godly judge. We can assume here is more than likely a gentile judge, a pagan judge because Jesus says this judge in this story does not fear God. He does not study the scriptures. He's not praying to God. This is not the judge you want to see when you need justice. So here we have in the first of the story a judge in a particular city who does not fear God nor respect man. He doesn't care what anybody thinks about him. Verse three. And there was a widow. Here's our second character in the story. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to the judge and

saying, "Give me justice against my adversary." If we pause for just a moment, remember it's a fictional story. Jesus allows much room for our imagination. We don't know why she's a widow, how her husband died. We do not even know her age, but we do know much about the cultural context of the day. Women were secondass citizens and to be a widow was a vulnerable place to be. You lack financial income. You lack a protector and a defender. And we see here some injustice was done to this particular widow. It sounds like it's financial for she's advocating for herself going to the judge just simply asking that which is already rightfully hers. It could be a piece of land. It could be some some money that was her husband's that's owed her. Now that he's gone, we don't know the details of the story, but we know

something is wrong in her life and she's trying to make it right. That will happen in each of our lives almost every day. So, here she goes to the judge and for a while, it says in verse four, for a while he refused. We don't know how long it was or how many times it took, but afterwards he said to himself, "Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming." And then Jesus explains, "And the Lord said, here what the unrighteous judge says, and will not God give justice to his elect?" Some

translations say his chosen ones who cry to him day and night. Will he delay long over them? I tell you, Jesus says, he will give justice to them speedily. Oh, open up the ears of your heart. Nevertheless, Jesus said, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? The Son of Man is a title that Jesus often used for himself. He declares that he is coming and what he's looking for is faith. He contrasts faith with prayer. A person of faith will pray. A prayerless person lacks faith. And it's in this story that Jesus uses a peculiar example. There are often two

types of parables. There's comparable and there's contrasting. Comparable parables are the ones that say God is like this. In Luke chapter 15, Jesus uses a parable of a shepherd. God is like a shepherd that goes after a lost sheep. God is like a woman that looks for the lost coin. And God is like a father that just loves his son. That no matter how far you've gone, no matter what you've done, he's able to restore. He's able to redeem, to bring back, to to provide, to give you an identity. God is like that. That's a comparable parable. Then there's a contrasting parable. Well, Jesus will tell a story and he says, "God is not like this. God is not like a a wicked pagan judge. God is not like this this this crooked judge." So, so don't think that that God is is like a a crooked judge that's just looking up in heaven with a crooked

finger that you just got to bother and then one day he's like, "Fine, you could have what you asked for." He's not bothered by you. Despite the words of Jesus, this is contrasting to say if the pagan world this, how much greater good God, how much greater is a just judge? How much greater is the one that actually loves you and advocates you and fights for you? So, it's in this parable that we learn something about prayer. Isn't it interesting how often God uses women to show persistence? It it's women that are the ones that are willing to endure. Come on. Some of you men should be shouting amen because it's the only reason she's still sitting by you.

It's not always the case, but it's often the case that we see some women of faith that are willing to keep coming back and not give up, not back. But here we have this un this widow that just wants what's rightfully ours. And it comes to verse five. We see that this judge is so bothered by this woman. Verse five, he says, "Because this widow keeps bother give her justice. So, I'm going to give her what's already hers." Justice means there was a wrong done. I'm going to make sure it's right. We have a God of justice. We should never forget it. Oh, the devil's a liar and wants to convince people not to believe in him because of the atrocities we see in this world. Nope. We have a God that will write every wrong. He will do it.

He's done it before and he'll do it again so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. Do you see language Jesus chooses? It's a violent language. Beat me down. Jesus uses this to about the persistence of prayer. Beat me down. Now, this is a Middle Eastern used to this day that's often we don't see in the Western world because we're such an independent culture. We don't give a rip what anybody thinks about us. But in the Middle Eastern culture, it's a culture of honor. And the idea of beat me down, it could be said this way, she'll give me a black eye. And the idea is that when public, someone's going to see what was done to you, and you have to simply say, I was beat up by an old widow.

So, it's an idiom to to teach us in this day that if I keep doing this, she's going to embarrass me. We don't know if that means privately or publicly people are going to see this widow coming to my house. They're going to start asking questions. I don't want to answer those questions. I'll just give her what she asked for. I mean, Jesus gives us margin own minds that we would start to understand in this story. God's character is on the line when you pray. So when you pray, it's showing what you believe about God and the persistence of what you believe about God. So when Jesus uses a contrasting example, he's simply showing for us that we ought to be a people that keep coming back to God and say, "Would you write that which is wrong?" If you're sick, God doesn't say, "Just deal with that sickness until you die." Jesus constantly healed the sick. We see

the early church constantly operated under the anointing of the power of God and people. Now, it's not just healing because even the Pharisees demanded a sign from Jesus and he says, "I'm not going to give it to you because you demanded it." This is just the principle of the kingdom. So, that which is wrong, we're going to keep coming back and asking God to make it right. This is true in relationships. This is true in our families. This is true in our own minds. If there's something wrong, we've got to be willing to keep coming and asking for it until it's made right. So that when Jesus comes, you know what he sees? People that are praying. We need to be a praying people because the there's power in persistent prayer. Let's look at some scriptures. Colossians 4:2, continue steadfastly in prayer. Why would we have to be told to continue steadfastly in prayer unless we were going to give up on prayer?

Continue steadfastly in prayer. Be watchful. And that this is war language. The watchmen would stand on the wall and they would look for the enemy or they would look for someone bringing good news. The watchmen were the ones that would dictate the safety of a city. We need some watchmen today that are praying that are looking out for the enemies. We need to be a praying people. And then he adds with it with thanksgiving. It's a consistent theme of those who pray. You're thankful. Prayerful people are the most thankful people because they know who God is and what he's done. They know who they are because of who God is. Thankful people are prayerful people because they go to God and they know that God's able to do what he's promised to do. Prayerful people are thankful people, but we don't just do it one time. Jesus says in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock

and it will be open to you." In the Greek translated to the English, this is this is a present participle. This is a asking. Seeking knocking. This isn't I knocked one time and God didn't open that door. This isn't I asked one time, God didn't give me what I asked for. I'm going to keep asking. I'm going to keep seeking. I'm going to keep knocking until God gives me what I've asked for. And if he doesn't give it to me, he must be a good God because he knows better than I do that whatever I'm asking for actually might hurt me, not help me. So, I'm going to keep asking. I'm going to keep seeking. I'm going to keep knocking because my God is a God of opportunities. If that door isn't open, he must want to mature me. He must want to grow me. He must want to teach me something that I would keep trusting in him that I would be a persistent person in prayer. I'm not just a oneanddone.

Prayer is not a vending machine. I go to God with my prayer and I twist it and I turn it and I say the right words and the prize pops out. He is not a Santa Claus God. He is a God that created you made you and he loves you and he wants you to keep coming back to him. That's what prayer is. And if prayer is not a oneanddone, then what is prayer? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing." How can you pray without ceasing? Well, you got to understand it's not a start and a stop. It's communion with God. It's listening to God. You can pray out loud. You could pray with others. You could pray by yourself. Pray in a house. Pray in with a mouse. I don't care where you pray. You can pray anywhere, everywhere. Listen, prayer is communion with God. So, don't stop praying. You pray without ceasing. There's another translation says, "Pray continually." Don't ever

stop praying. In Philippians 4:6, we're told, "Do not be anxious about anything." The Bible commands you. Anxiety is not yours. Worry is worshiping your problems. It's time for you to start worshiping a God that's greater than your problems. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, oh, just let your requests be made known to God. If you would just keep reading, the Bible says, "And the peace of God which surpasses understanding is going to guard your hearts and your minds." But you're not getting that peace without prayer. There is power in persistent prayer. There's a common theme throughout the Bible that if you want who God is, you must pray. If you want

to become wants you to be, you must pray. If you want to receive what God can give you, you must pray. If you don't have it, don't stop praying. Don't give in to the devil. Don't stop too soon. Don't hit the ground so many times that you stop short of the breakthrough. Don't walk around the walls and stop before they come down. Come on, somebody. Don't Don't do a whisper. Sometimes you just got to shout in prayer. But you've got to believe that the God you cry out to hears your cries. He answers your cries. Just like we see in the Old Testament, sometimes there's a waiting, but be patient in the waiting. Good things take time. Oh, it's worth it. The good things take time. The good things take hard work.

So, if you have to work hard in your prayer, I'm telling you, the best is yet to come. Let me share with you one more strange story. Do you like strange stories? That's because your story is strange. I'm here to tell you, all of us are messed up. All of us are broken. All of us have made mistakes and the Bible is full of people just like you. The Bible is not your story. It's God's story. If you would allow God to interrupt your story, he will rewrite your story for eternity. Here's the story. It's found in Matthew 15. Mark also tells this story. It says Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Ty and Sedon. This is a gentile region, which means it's not Jewish. It's primarily gentile, which just means non-Jew. They don't believe in the one true God. And behold, a Canaanite woman, I'm in Matthew 15:22. I hear the pages flipping. That's good. Matthew 15:22.

And behold, a Canaanite woman came. Now, here's what's interesting. Matthew was Jewish and he knew the scriptures. Canaanite was a really old school term. That was the term for those that were already dwelling in what the land we call Israel today before the Israelites took this promised land to them. the Canaanites occupied this region. So, Matthew is going old school here. He's like, this girl that was not a part of the Hebrew people, she's a Canaanite woman from the region came out and was crying. Now, if you go to the book of Mark, she's called a Syrophenician woman. Syrophenician. I would love to say that I knew what Syrophenician means. I had to look it up. All right. Cyro means Syria. So, she had Syrian descent. And Phoenician means Phoenicia.

So she was from this region. So she's she's from outside of the region of of of Jerusalem of what we would call Judah from this Hebrew people. She comes to Jesus in verse 22 and she said this, "Have mercy on me, oh Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." Now, if we could read this story through the context of prayer, let's break this down. She prays what every single one of us could pray. She starts by asking God for mercy. That's a good prayer. That's a desperate need for God. Do for me what I can't do on my own. Have mercy on us. And then she says, 'Oh Lord, son of David. That's a special term that's reserved for the Messiah, the Christ. That's who Jesus is. It's a title. It's the promised one of God. We call him the Christ because that's the English translation of a Hebrew word, Hamashiach. It means the chosen anointed one of God. And she comes up to Jesus, have mercy on me.

Calling him the Messiah, the anointed one of God. My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. I appre appreciate that she's relentlessly real in prayer. Demons are real and they're tormenting all sorts of people and our kids today are being tormented and it's time for us to take them back not to allow demons just to do what they do to allow them to think what they think because this is real. And some of you might even be torment today and you could be set free from this today in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. So she comes and she says, "I'm not okay with my daughter not being okay. This is the heart of a good mom. I'm hurting for my daughter. My heart breaks for my daughter. She's not the way that I know you designed her to be." And she releases that anxiety and puts it on Jesus. Now, this would be a great story if it was just easily or happily ever after from this point. But look what happens next. But Jesus, it says in verse 23, did not answer her a word.

Have you ever felt like you prayed and God didn't answer you a word? I'm just looking for some real people today. You pray and you pray and you pray and it's like, God, do you even hear me? Jesus did not answer a word. It's not because God's not good. It's not because he's not going to do a deliverance. It's not because God isn't hearing what's being done. We have to look at the heart of God. He has a plan even when we can't see it. He did not answer her a word. And his disciples came to Jesus and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." Y'all know that when it rains, it also pours. So, you're begging God for an answer, and everybody else is criticizing you, too. Not everyone will celebrate your faith. Not everyone's going to celebrate that you're asking Jesus to do what only Jesus could do. Some people are actually going to say, "You should go away.

You're a little bit extreme. You're a little bit weird." Because Gentiles were considered unclean. And for an unclean woman to come into this room, it would make them unclean. But Jesus doesn't get unclean. He makes people clean. And look what happens next. Verse 24. Jesus answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but she came." Verse 25, "and knelt before Jesus, saying,"Lord, help me." I want to just pause for a moment and just get so serious because so many of you would probably give a similar answer to why you don't have persistent prayer. I don't know how to. I I want to preserve you of this. I have purchased so many books on prayer and I'm not sure any have actually helped me. What I'm actually hoping is there will be an impartation from someone smarter than me, someone older than me, someone who has more credentials than me to tell me

how to do what only I can do. May I just teach you? You do not need any book to be a powerful prayer person. I'm not saying they're bad or you shouldn't read. In fact, leaders are learners. So, go read books. It's good. But what I'm telling you is we should learn from this Canaanite Syrophenician Gentile woman. If you want to know how to pray, you could just pray those three words. Lord, help me. Peter had an even shorter one when he was sinking into the water. Save me. He didn't have time for Lord. It was just like, I'm dying. I need a savior. Jesus, you're a good savior. and he did rescue Peter. So if if you're here today and you say, "Pastor, I I can't be

persistent in prayer. I don't know how if you pray,"Lord, help me enough times," you're going to grow in your prayer. So if you don't get what you're asking for and Lord help me, and you still feel like, "I don't know if I hear. I don't know if I feel, I don't know if I see," don't give up. I'm so grateful for women like this. She didn't give up. In fact, look at her posture. It says in verse 25, she she knelt before Jesus. I mean, this is like a posture of prayer. This is surrender. I can't get up and run. I'm simply saying, I'm sub submitting my will to yours. She's submitting to King Jesus, which we know that she didn't know what he was capable of doing, defeating death. And as she knelt down, she just prays.

Lord, help me. Now, I told you this is a strange story. You ever think your stories are strange? This gets weird. Jesus answered her after this beautiful prayer on her knees. He answered her. It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. He's calling the Israelites, the Hebrew people, children of God and Gentiles dogs. So he's saying, "Why would I give you an answer of prayer? Why would I give you something good? Why? Why would I do this to a dog? Now, if you think this is strange, so do I. This is why you got to study the scriptures. This is why you got to pray. This is why you got to not give up on God and just read it one time and come up with your own conclusions. You're not God.

You know how many times God teaches us a lesson and in the middle of it, we as little children are backtalking God? You just give me what I ask for. I'm going to ask you why you did that someday in heaven. No, you're not. He's God. Don't you dare pretend and get this role reversed like, "Oh, God, I'm going to come to you and tell you what you should have done." But my heart reads this text that way. I like want to step in and be a fool and be like, "Jesus, you can't say that." But Jesus can say that he's God. Amen. So he he says that to her and come on, we need some persistent prayer. Hear this. She said, "Wait, pause for a moment." She had every excuse to do two things. One is argue with him and cancel him out in a cancel culture like we have today and say you don't talk to me like that. You know I'm a sour pho

Phoenician. You know like you know what kind of blood she could have argued with Jesus or she could have done what so many of us do and she could have made an excuse and walk away. I'm going to stop praying today. I I tried I over and over I was persistent. It didn't work. But listen to this woman. She said yes Lord. Yet, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Amen. See, [cheering] if I could even just get a crumb, if I could just get a taste, if I could just get a little bit of who God is, that's enough for me because my family will never be the same if you just give me a little bit of who you are. And Jesus answered her, don't miss this. Oh woman, great is your faith. So, her persistence is tied to her faith. So if you want to

have great faith, you must be persistent. Even when you can't hear it, even when you can't see it, even when you can't feel it, you get on your knees and you keep asking God and look what the Lord does. Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly. My God is still doing this today. I could tell you as a testimony when it looks like a child is going astray, oh, don't give up on that child. Go to God in prayer. When it looks like there's no no work happening, you keep being persistent because there's power in persistent prayer. You keep coming back. You keep going to God. Listen, if you feel beaten down, that's because the devil's trying to stop God from a great breakthrough. Get up and keep praying.

Go to God. He hears your prayers. the violent take it by force. It may not happen the way you thought it was going to happen. It may not happen when you thought it was going to happen, but it's going to happen. Because the Bible says in Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" The solution to every problem you have, his name is King Jesus. Every wrong that's going to be right is because of Jesus. If you want to see breakthrough in this world, it's because of Jesus. And I've come to the conclusion central Oregon shall be saved. I may not know when. I may not know how. But I'm going to keep believing. I'm going to keep asking. I'm going to be persistent till one day like the martyrs in heaven in re chapter 6. I can be interceding in heaven and say, "Come on, Jesus. It's time. I'm going to believe for justice. It's not over yet.

Oh, the blood of the martyrs is seen by God. And there will be vengeance, but vengeance is mine, sayaeth the Lord. It's not yours. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. This is a demonic battle. But we know who's going to win today. We know who's the overcomer of the principalities. But you've got to be the person that's persistent in prayer. So I want to just close with this. God is always true. God is always good. God is always holy. Prayer must be your priority. It does not matter how old you are in this room, nor does it matter how young you are. Do you know this wasn't in my notes, but I just got to say this really quickly. Jesus told a parable about the kingdom and he talks about a master who hired a whole bunch of people for his field. One he hired early and

they all day. That's a sign of a person that follows the Lord early and they follow him all the days of their life. Then there's a whole bunch of people he hires throughout the day. And finally, there's someone he hires at the end of the day. And do you know what happens to the person that got hired at the end of the day? They got paid the same amount as the person that got hired at the beginning of the day. It's the reward of eternal life, the reward of heaven. I want to tell somebody here today that feels like you've given up on prayer and you're getting closer to the end of the life. If you've only got 20 years or less on your life, may I just tell you, it's never too late with God. Just go to work in prayer. Go to work. He hears those prayers. Your prayers are no less powerful because of your age. If you're a young person in this room, you have the same power of the Holy Spirit that any older person has in this room. God is looking for some young prayer warriors to step up in this generation and pray like no

generation before. He's just looking for some people that aren't going to make excuses. Well, I'm divorced. Well, I've done bad things. Well, I've messed up too much. Well, I was born into this family. Well, the world, if they knew who I was, I couldn't do it. God knows who you are. Accept his grace. Be forgiven and sin no more. Go to God in prayer. But I want to ask you today, if you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, today is your day. There's no better day of salvation than today. The Bible says that all those who call upon the name of Jesus shall be saved. It's not a maybe. It's not a might. It's not how good you are. Your goodness could never get you into heaven because God is perfectly good. He could look at you and find some reason for you not to get in, but you can get into heaven because of what God's done for you. Jesus died on the cross for every single one of your sins. He was buried in a tomb because he died. But on the

third day, he rose from the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit. And by believing in Jesus, you receive that same Holy Spirit. And the more you keep going to God in prayer, the more you understand that power, the more you operate in that power. So I want to just ask you today, if you want to be saved, you want to be born again, God will not give you a better life. He wants to give you a new life today, would you just throw your hand up just in confidence saying that that's me? Praise God. Yes. Praise God. Come on. Praise God. He's been waiting for you, chasing you. Praise God. Yes. Anybody else today? I'm so proud of you. It takes a boldness. But from this point forward, you're a son of God. He's child of God. Amen. God redeems all that you've been through. He redeems it. He does it. I can see redemption. Redemption in your

eyes. Redemption. Just say that word redemption out loud. Redemption. That which the devil's tried to deceive you, God's going to redeem. Even the stuff no one else knows about you, God knows he's going to redeem it. You're a man of God. That's who you are today. Praise God. Anyone else? Is there someone over here that's just saying, "I'm done doing my own. I want King Jesus. I want to surrender my life to Jesus." Just throw your hand up right where you are. Just bold, brave. I don't want to miss you because this is the moment that salvation happens. that when your heart stops, you actually, the Bible says, you don't die. So if you want the hope of heaven today, it's yours. There's no fear with God because God is love and perfect love

drives out fear. So if that's you, just raise your hand. You say, "I want to be loved today. I want to be loved today." Is there someone over here? Just raise your hand high. I want to see who it is. Is that Praise God. Come on. Praise God. Yes. Amen. Amen. Praise God. There's a shift that happens when you follow Jesus. You give up all your old ways and you follow [music] the new ways. And his ways are always good, but they're also hard. So, we're so grateful today that you'd be bold. One step of boldness can actually create a domino effect. That other people might see your boldness, but it might be as you leave this room and [music] you

speak Jesus, you live Jesus, God sees it. But get rid of the old, receive the new. Grace, love, mercy, peace. It's yours. Praise God. Well, I want to pray with you today and we we're going to finish our time and then I want to encourage you today. When you leave here, there's just one point to today's sermon. Pray. Okay, it's got a long title, the power of persistent [music] prayer, but just it's a onepoint sermon. It's not a Baptist sermon with three points, just one point. All right, pray. Could you just repeat that point back to me? [music] Pray. If you don't know how to pray, we learned from this woman today. Lord, help me. You got brokenness in your life, bring it to the feet of Jesus. If it feels like he's silent, keep keep praying.

Keep praying. Keep praying. So Lord, today we thank you for our time. We thank you for your word that teaches, that helps [music] us, that ministers to our hearts. Holy Spirit, you've done that today. I thank you for the hands of boldness that have gone up around this room and even those watching online today that would surrender to your will, King Jesus. There's nothing you can't do. So we need you. We are desperate for you. We empty our lives and we say, "Fill us with your Holy Spirit." Father, we thank you for a relationship with you. That all that's been made wrong would be made right. Those who have had broken relationships with their fathers, we say it can be restored with you, Lord, as our heavenly father. There's restoration happening in the kingdom. There's hope in the kingdom. There's healing in the kingdom. [music] We want your kingdom to come and your will to be done. And for those that raise their

hands today, I'm just going to You don't have to repeat after me. I'm just going to pray over you. Prayer is talking to God. It's listening to God. It's is living life with God. It's walking with God. Just in your own heart, you've got to be sincere. Just ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins. That's called repentance. Means you don't want to keep doing things your old way. You want the new life Jesus has for you. But you've got to confess it. So when you go even go home, confess all of it. Release it in the name of Jesus. So Lord, forgive us of our sins and instead replace it with all that you are. You are holy. you are righteous, you're good. Remind your children who they are in you. And God, help them to live in the Holy Spirit filled with who you are in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.