Heart Full of Prayer is Judged by the Hard-Hearted.

Luke 18:1-8

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.

• We should pray and not lose heart.
• People with a heart of prayer are judged by the hard-hearted.
• Jesus Christ is coming back to avenge us of our adversaries.
• Will Jesus find faith on this earth when He returns?

We should pray and not lose heart. “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart…” Luke 18:1 People who have a prayer in their heart are compassionate in their thoughts and emotions towards others, but hard-hearted people do not have that prayer. When we lose heart, we lose the compassion of Christ. Today, there is a thing in the world that has the power to form what we feel, think, and do. It opposes the prayers of the human spirit that flow through the Spirit of Christ. It coordinates with the mark of the beast as it impedes prayers to God, prevents intercession made through Jesus Christ, and tramples on the Holy Spirit. Even then, from within our soul we should always have a prayer and not lose heart.

People with a heart of prayer are judged by the hard-hearted. “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.” Luke 18:2 Those who live and govern by the mark of the beast do not fear God and have no regard for people either. Their judgments are harsh against those who have a compassionate soul full of prayer to God and concern for fellow human beings. “Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Avenge me from my adversary.’” Luke 18:3 In the Bible, widows are often neglected because they don’t have a husband and society has forgotten them. In this verse, the widow needs protection from someone who is making life hard for her. Those widows are the people we should have a prayer in our heart for. The prayerless judge refused to help, “And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man…” Luke 18:4 What the judge was about to do was not from a love for God nor from a love for human beings, it was from his own selfish reasons, “…yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” Luke18:5

Jesus Christ is coming back to avenge us of our adversaries. “Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.” Luke 18:6 From how the judge responded to the needy widow, Jesus explains what the judgment of God is going to be like. “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?” Luke 18:7 Jesus Christ is coming back, and when He does, He avenges His people who suffer at the hands of those who live and govern by the mark of the beast. In a sense, the followers of Jesus Christ are the widow who are not married to the community of this world, and we have no help. The Christless community will only help if our persistence overrides the prayers that live in our heart. They make it clear that any help from them does not come from heart-felt prayers. Today, we cry out for help, and that situation intensifies, “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:10 Jesus responds, “I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8

Will Jesus find faith on this earth when He returns? Jesus knows the answer is that there are only a faithful few who hold to His testimony and who prays without losing heart. Lawlessness and a lack of faith prevails before Jesus comes back because the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7-10

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11