Keep Praying
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | July 27, 2025
Click here to listen to the service
Read Luke 11:1 – 13 (NIV)
In the past, I have preached any number of sermons with themes that focus on prayer... everything from “The Perfect Prayer” to “Praying Like Jesus” to “Prayer Changes Things” and “A Prayer for All Seasons” ...as well as “It’s Time to Pray,” “The Power of Prayer,” “The Power of Persistent Prayer,” and one of my favorites, “P.U.S.H – Pray Until Something Happens.”
It should come as no surprise that I truly do believe in the power of prayer to change things as well as people... including us... and that is why this morning, I want to invite our attention to a rather straightforward but appropriate theme for the times we are living in... and that theme is simply, KEEP PRAYING.
KEEP PRAYING... in other words, in the midst of whatever we are going through, whatever challenges we may be facing... we need to be persistent and KEEP PRAYING.
Now, if we were to do a quick search for the definition of the word “persistent” we would find that it means “continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.”
It is indicative of a spirit of determination, tenacity, and perseverance... in spite of any obstacles we may encounter. To be persistent in prayer means that even when the circumstances around us have not changed or we have not gotten the answers we have been hoping for… we KEEP PRAYING anyhow.
Now, someone may be wondering what is the point of being persistent... why should we KEEP PRAYING if we are not getting the answers that we want?
Well let me suggest, that if we are praying only to get what we want... we are praying with the wrong motives and we are not praying in the way Jesus taught us.
As we take a look at our text for the morning, we find the story of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray in the way that John taught his disciples to pray.
Jesus responded to them by telling them to pray in a way that we often refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father” …and let me say that Jesus’ response to the disciples is just as instructive to us today as it was to them way back then.
And although we make it a practice to close out our time of Joys and Concerns each week by praying the Lord’s Prayer... scholars would suggest that this was not intended to simply be a rote prayer that we have committed to memory… rather, this prayer is intended to be a model that we should follow as we pray.
Now, if we were to take a closer look at this model prayer... one of the first things that we should make note of is that Jesus begins His prayer by praising God… acknowledging God for who He is… while asking for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done. Jesus praised God first... and then He made His requests.
First and foremost, prayer is not meant to be about us.
It is about giving praise and thanksgiving to God, seeking His will in all things. When we start our prayers in this way, it puts us in the proper frame of mind… acknowledging who God is... and understanding that it is God’s will that we should be following... not our own.
And yet, how often do we get off on the wrong foot… not asking for God’s will to be done... but actually asking God to follow our will… asking God to do what we want to be done... often with little or no concern for whether or not it actually aligns with God’s will?
But Jesus’ model prayer reminds us that we need to put first things first... and that means putting God first in ALL things. This harkens back what the Psalmist David wrote in Psalm 37 (4-6):
It’s important to note, many people focus only on one part of this passage of Scripture... the part that says God will give us the desires of our hearts... but they fail to take into consideration the rest of what the passage tells us.Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
It is only when we take delight in the Lord and commit our ways to Him and trust in Him... that is when our desires will begin to line up with God’s will… and that is when we will notice a shift in how we pray and what we pray for.
That is why, as we follow Jesus’ example, we see that it is after we give God praise... in other words, after we take delight in the Lord... that is when we should pray and make our request... asking for God’s daily provision… “Give us each day our daily bread.”
It is a reminder that God’s provision is not something that we can simply store up and thereby eliminate the need to go to God in prayer in the days ahead. Just remember what happened to the Israelites who tried to hoard the manna that God sent down from heaven…
God told them to take only enough for what they needed for themselves and their family for that day (and twice as much on the Sabbath) …literally taking only their daily bread. But just like some of us are prone to do, they wanted to have a little extra as insurance for the days to come… what they got instead was a messy infestation of maggots…
The lesson in this is that when we fail to trust God to provide for our needs on a daily basis and we start to store up treasures here on earth where moth and rust destroy… we run the risk of creating a mess… thinking we have everything under control and that we don’t need to ask for God’s provision as part of their daily prayer.
But that runs contrary to God’s will for us.
It is like the Parable of the Rich Fool found in Luke 12... it is the parable that follows Jesus’ stern warning to a man looking to get an inheritance from his brother. Jesus told the man, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And after that Jesus told the parable of a rich man who found himself with a rather large surplus of grain. The man figured he would build himself some much bigger barns and to stash it all away so he could simply “take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”
But he soon found out his plan was not at all pleasing to God, who told him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:13 – 21).
Jesus used this parable to illustrate the fact that we are not meant to simply store up treasures for ourselves… while at the same time ignoring the needs of God’s people.
Understanding that God has promised to provide for us day by day comes with the realization that we have been blessed so that we can be a blessing to someone else… which means we do not have to worry that blessing someone else will leave us in a lurch... because as Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
God will give us this day (and every day) our daily bread… all that we need to survive… so that we can in turn bless someone else along the way.
Now, as we KEEP PRAYING according to Jesus’ model prayer, we are not only to give God praise and ask for God’s provision… we are to seek God for protection.
Protection from what you may ask… actually much-needed protection from sin and temptation.
Following along with the model prayer, we read, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.”
Now, I will be the first to admit... it can be really difficult for us to forgive others, even while we are asking God to forgive us… but let me say this... forgiveness is not an optional exercise. It is a command from Jesus.
You may recall the story of Peter asking Jesus how many times he ought to forgive a person who sinned against him… Peter seemed to think he was being generous by suggesting that seven times would be sufficient…
However, Jesus told Peter he must forgive not just seven times... but seventy times seven (see Matthew 18:20 – 22). In other words, Peter you just need to keep forgiving as you have been forgiven…
And this idea of forgiving as we have been forgiven is something that the Apostle Paul also wrote about in his letters to the Colossians and the Ephesians (see Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32) …keeping in line with Jesus’ prayer... encouraging us to ask for forgiveness of our sins even as we forgive others…
But Jesus also teaches that we need to ask God to protect us by leading us away from temptation and delivering us from evil…
In other words, we need God’s help to keep us in a place where we will be safe from falling into more sin… and speaking for myself, that is something that I need to pray for on a daily basis.
Because let’s be honest, this world is full of opportunities for us to sin and fall into temptation… And God knew that we would need protection which is why He sent His Son Jesus to be our Savior.
As Paul wrote to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 10:13):
And one of the ways in which we can resist the temptation to sin is literally to KEEP PRAYING.No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Persistence in prayer helps us to recognize that we need God in order to endure and persevere through every circumstance… because the fact is that what seems like it is too hard for us to handle is just right for God. So, KEEP PRAYING for God protection.
Now, after teaching His disciples the model prayer, Jesus presented them with a hypothetical situation... He asked them to imagine they have gone to the home of a friend and asked for some bread to feed an unexpected guest that has arrived. The friend initially does not want to get up and answer the door because it is late at night… however, he responds because of the persistent plea for help.
Jesus then told the disciples, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Ask… seek… and knock, “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” So... KEEP PRAYING.
Now, there is something that needs to be made clear here… when we are intentional and KEEP PRAYING – asking, seeking, and knocking... what we receive, what we find and what is opened to us will align with God’s perfect will for us… although it may look and feel quite different than what we originally asked.
That is because God knows what we need much more than we do... and God knows what is in our best interest which is why James reminds us that, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:17.
Even more than earthly parents who hear the requests of their children and respond accordingly... our heavenly Father hears us when we pray and responds by giving us just what we need.
And here is the really good news, God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
But what that means is that there will be times, when we have to face the fact that what God gives us may not be what we were hoping to receive.
We thought that if we made it a point to KEEP PRAYING... that God was going to let us win the mega-millions in the state lottery... or marry Mr. or Mrs. Right... or heal us or our loved ones from a serious accident or illness.
But rest assured, just because we KEEP PRAYING but do not get the answer that we want... that does not mean God has not answered our prayer.
It has been suggested that God will often answer our prayers in one of four ways:
The reality is that God loves us too much to give us everything we want simply because we want it. Those lottery winnings may lead us down a path that ends up in bankruptcy because we were not in a position to know how to manage that much money.
- When the request is not right, God says, “No.”
- When the timing is not right, God says, “Slow.”
- When the request and timing are right, but we are not right, God says, “Grow.”
- And when the request is right and the timing is right and we are right, then God says, “Go.”
(https://pastorrick.com/four-ways-god-answers-your-prayers/)
Marrying that person we thought was Mr. or Mrs. Right may have landed us in divorce court or worse… because we had no idea that person would turn out to be abusive or deceptive.
And even if we do not get the healing for ourselves or our loved ones that we hoped for on this side of heaven... we can hold onto God’s promise that, “He will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
Because Jesus gave His life for us at Calvary… that means this world and this life… complete with all the pain and heartache that comes with it… is not all there is. We have the blessed assurance that the best is yet to come… when Jesus comes back for His bride, the church... that where He is, there we may be also.
That is why we need to KEEP PRAYING… praising God even before we ask for His provision and protection... and then giving thanks for His promise of eternal life that is ours through the gift of His Son and our Savior.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Now, there is something else about prayer that is important for us to note... Jesus not only gave us the model prayer that is found in our text for today... throughout the Gospels we find Jesus being intentional about taking time away to pray… demonstrating just how it important it is that we KEEP PRAYING.
And more often than not, Jesus was not praying for Himself... rather, He was praying for others, including each one of us…
In Matthew 19 (13) we read, “Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them.”
In John 17 (11) we read, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”
And even on the night He was betrayed, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed… “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (see Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:35 – 36, Luke 22:42).
In His moments of deepest anguish… even to the point that Luke said, “His sweat was like drops of blood” (Luke 22:44) …even then, Jesus’ prayer was for God’s will to be done… in essence, willingly accepting that His life was to be given in exchange for ours as payment of the penalty that our sins deserved…
And because Jesus has made it a point to always KEEP PRAYING on our behalf... we have been given the greatest gift we could ever hope to receive... the promise of spending eternity with Him.
And until that day when Jesus comes back for His bride, the church... He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to be with us... to teach us and to remind us of everything He has said... not the least of which is His encouragement for us to KEEP PRAYING... or as Paul put it, “[to] pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
And so today, the invitation to us is to follow the model that Jesus set for us and KEEP PRAYING through any and every situation...
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote that we do not have to be anxious about anything... explaining that even as we make our prayers and petitions known... we can be filled with thanksgiving as we present our requests to God... “[Because] the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus” (see Philippians 4:6 – 7).
Or as it reads in the Message, “Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
So, even as the world continues to swirl with chaos and confusion and provide us with ample opportunities to KEEP PRAYING... we have the assurance that God’s Holy Spirit will be there with us... guarding our hearts and minds and guiding us every step of the way.
And it is with that promise in mind that I want to invite us to stand and sing our Hymn of Discipleship: Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart #265.
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