Prevailing Faith at the End of the Age
6Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. 7And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day
and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless,
when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"(Luke 18:6-8)
I. INTRODUCTION: THE NEED FOR A PEOPLE WHO PREVAIL IN PRAYER
A. In Luke 18, Jesus spoke of God’s desire to release “speedy justice” to the earth. The breaking in of justice can be
defined as wrong things being made right. Jesus connects the idea of speedy justice to the issue of night and day prayer
on the earth. He promises that if we will give ourselves to the place of prayer, God will release justice on the earth.
B. We see the principle operating over and over again in scripture. The increase of God’s government over the
whole earth is in direct proportion to the maturity of the prayer movement.
C. The core identity of the redeemed in the earth is a prayer community. It is our core identity and we (as the people
of God) are called the house of prayer (Isaiah 56:7). The kingdom of God is released upon the earth in relationship to the
prayer movement. Night and Day prayer and worship is God’s governmental strategy to release justice and blessing
upon the earth. It will not happen with out it.
D. Jesus will return to rule over the earth in response to the prayers of God’s people in unity with the Holy Spirit at the
end of the age.
17And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" (Revelation 22:17)
E. The prayer movement will continue after the return of Jesus to the planet. The ultimate destiny of the house of
prayer is as God’s center of government (Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court all in one).
II. WILL THE SON OF MAN FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?
A. The main question Jesus is asking in Luke 18 is not whether the people want justice or whether they will ask for
justice, but whether, having started asking, they will stay steady in the place of asking until the return of Jesus. He implies
three things:
1. Justice will not be released in fullness until Jesus returns to the earth.
2. Our prayers now will contribute to the release of capital “J” justice on the earth in the future.
3. It will be difficult to stay steady in the place of prayer over the long haul and many will not stay steady in the
place of prayer until the return of Jesus.
B. Jesus is not mostly concerned that people start the race but that there are those who will prevail in faith for the
breakthrough until the end. Not who will start the race will finish the race. The issue is not whether we start strong but
whether we will finish strong.
C. Because of the critical importance of the worship and prayer movement in God’s kingdom, it has been opposed
throughout history. The enemy seeks to discourage God’s people in building the house of prayer and because of this
our tendency is to lose focus.
D. Jesus warned that many would fall away from faith in the last days (not prevail in confidence that God will break
in with justice).
E. Some of the main reasons the people of God do not (and increasingly will not) persevere in the place of prayer
include delay, disappointment, deception, distraction, difficulty and despair.
1. Delay
A wrong understanding of God’s plan can leave us discouraged, disappointed and disillusioned when we experience
delay in receiving the answer to our prayers. Many misinterpret God-ordained delay as God’s displeasure in them,
their lack of faith, or even God’s forgetfulness. They did not understand that delay was part of the big picture.
22Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man
(second coming), and you will not see it. (Luke 17:22-23)
…scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4and saying, "Where is the promise of His
coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”…8But,
beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day. 9The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,
not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (1 Peter 3:3-9)
48But if that evil servant says in his heart, "My master is delaying his coming,' 49and begins to beat his fellow servants, and
to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at
an hour that he is not aware of, 51and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:48-51)
7And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them (delay)?
(Luke 18:7)
2. Deception
Deception is going to increase as we approach the coming of the Lord. Those who are not rooted in the truth of God’s
word will be easily deceived and draw back from whole-hearted love and obedience. Deception may not be overtly evil
but will ultimately lead us from the path of life.
"Take heed that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
(Matthew 24:4-5)
11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many (Matthew 24:11)
3. Difficulty and Distraction
The difficulty of the life of prayer causes many to draw back in pursuit of a life of comfort, ease and pleasure rather than
the higher pleasures of God and His Kingdom. If we do not live from the perspective of eternity we will quickly lose vision
and retreat to the comfort of a compromised life.
7And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop….18Now these are the
ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches,
and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Mark 4:7, 18-19)
31"In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away.
And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32Remember Lot's wife. 33Whoever seeks to save his
life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:31-33)
4. Despair
Without vision and understanding of God’s end time purpose it is going to become increasingly common for God’s
people to become offended with God and give up on Him and His ways.
9"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
10And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another (Matthew 24:9-10)
III. CONSIDER YOUR WAYS! THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF HAGGAI
A. Much of the western church is in the place of compromise in the place of prayer. God’s house is not functioning
as a house of prayer. But God promised that He would give His people joy in the place of prayer (during the most difficult
season of human history) before His return.
B. The twin prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah give much encouragement to God’s people who are seeking to build
the house of prayer. The Lord raised up Haggai and Zechariah at a time when the people of God had become
discouraged in building the Temple (House of Prayer) (Ezra 5:1-2; Ezra 6:14). The messages of Zechariah are filled
with encouragement to help a people who were called to re-build the Temple after the exile to Babylon in preparation
for the coming Messiah. Much of the background to the prophetic ministry of Zechariah can be found in the book of Ezra.
C. Rightly understood, these messages will give courage to God’s people at any period of history who are called to
re-establish night and day ministry to the Lord in preparation for the return of Jesus. The book of Zechariah gives much
information about the importance of the prayer movement to God, the impact it will have and the spiritual fuel needed
to sustain it.
D. The historical setting of the prophecies of Zechariah and Haggai is the time following the return from Babylon by
a number of the Jewish exiles (about 520 B.C.) Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, were the last three OT prophets and
were known as the “restoration” prophets because of their focus on rebuilding the Temple and re-establishing the
worship of God in Jerusalem.
E. The Lord raised up Cyrus, king of Persia (modern day Iran), for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem
and returning the Babylonian Jewish exiles to the land of Israel. In 539 B.C. Cyrus took control of Babylon and shortly
afterwards he issued a decree that the Temple in Jerusalem should be built (Ezra 1:2-4). This event had been
prophesied 200 years earlier by Isaiah (Isaiah 44:28).
F. They began with great zeal and at great personal cost but after a short while, they began to lose heart because of
negative circumstances opposition and persecution from those already in the land. They stopped building after just two
years and for fourteen years they neglected the building of the Temple (Ezra 4:24).
G. God raised up Zechariah and Haggai to encourage the people of Judah in their work of rebuilding the Temple.
Only two years after they had begun to build they gave in to apathy and indifference, focusing their time and energy
on building their own houses and businesses.
H. Haggai tells the people that life isn’t working right because they are not being faithful to the thing God called
them to do. His message focuses on calling the people to invest their time and money in the project. Twice he calls
the people to “Consider” their ways. It is a two-fold call to re-commit to the project.
5Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! 6"You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat,
but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and
he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes." 7Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!
8Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified"
(Haggai 1:5-8)
IV. GOD REMEMBERS – THE MESSAGE OF ZECHARIAH
A. While Haggai’s message focuses on recommitment, Zechariah’s message focuses on a transformation of the heart.
His messages call the people back to wholehearted obedience out of desire rather than duty. Without a transformation
at the heart level, the people would never have succeeded in completing the Temple.
B. It is easy to re-commit on Sunday, but lose heart on Monday. We need to have fuel in our hearts to sustain us in
the place of prayer. Zechariah’s message gives much needed “heart fuel” to help us stay steady in the place of prayer.
C. The combined message of Zechariah’s eight night visions is summarized in the name of the prophet himself.
Zechariah’s name means “God remembers”. God is letting a burnt out, discouraged people know that he hasn’t
forgotten them. He remembers his people with affection and he has not forgotten his promises towards them. The
message of the visions is that God still loves them, has a glorious purpose for them and is with them to help them
complete the task at hand.
D. The visions are a combination of information about God’s future plans to vindicate Israel and judge the nations
(release speedy justice) and revelation of His affection and love towards His people.
E. Understanding both God’s affections for us, (who He is and how he feels about us), and his strategy to bring
righteousness and justice the earth, (what He is going to do), is critical to keep us steady in the place of prayer.
V. UNDERSTANDING THE BIG PICTURE (ESCHATOLOGY)
A. Many people grasp the relationship of the prayer movement to the breaking in of justice. We get excited (as did the
returning exiles in Zechariah’s day) but draw back when the answer doesn’t immediately manifest because we
misunderstand the nature of the God’s kingdom and how God is going to release justice on the earth.
B. The Now and Not Yet of the Kingdom
1. It is important to understand that God releases justice in part now, in substance, justice will only be released
on the earth after the second coming when Jesus returns to “restore all things” (Acts 3:21) during the millennial kingdom.
2. There are two common approaches to understanding the kingdom of God, both of which are wrong and both of
which may cause apathy and indifference in the place of prayer.
a. Expectation that the Kingdom will be manifest in fullness now
b. Expectation that the Kingdom will be manifest only after the rapture (it is “not yet”)
C. It is essential that we understand that the Kingdom is both now and not yet. Knowing that it only be manifest in
fullness at the return of Jesus keeps us from disappointment and despair. Knowing that it is breaking in now in part
keeps us connected to contending for as much as possible while we wait.
D. Zechariah was raised up to say, the fullness of the promise is sure and what you are doing is vitally connected
to the fulfillment of the promise. Unless we understand the big picture we will be prone to disappointment and despair.
E. We need to contend for the breakthrough while waiting for the BREAKTHROUGH. What we do now will yield some
measure of breakthrough (fulfillment of prophetic promises etc). It will contribute to the ultimate fulfillment in substance of
God’s kingdom being fully established on the earth.
F. As we build the House of Prayer it is critical that the prophetic anointing is in our midst, to give us vision for why
we are doing what we are doing. It is important to be reminded continually of our “prophetic history” (the promises God
has spoken over us personally, corporately and through understanding the prophetic end-time scriptures).
G. The Apostle Paul was consumed with a hope for the future. It was what sustained him through the pressures
and opposition of the moment and enabled him to endure suffering with joy.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us….24For we were saved in this hope. (Romans 8:18;24)
H. Studying the end times fills our hearts with hope that God will triumph over all evil and be seen as victorious
in time and space. It also causes us to want to pursue 100% obedience because we understand that what we are
doing in the day of small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10) counts towards the end goal. When we are consumed with
the reality of his eternal plan for the earth it produces a response in the present. We live with eternity in view
rather than for the present.
VI. THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE AFFECTIONS OF GOD
A. We will not persevere in prayer unless we are grounded properly in the knowledge of God. If we do not understand
who He is and what He feels about us it will cause us to draw back. We need to have a paradigm that does not see God
as mostly mad and sad with us but as rejoicing in us in our immaturity.
B. Zechariah’s visions are full of statements of his zeal and covenant faithfulness towards Israel and His commitment
to them in the midst of trouble and hardship. He wants them to know that He is with them and for them as they pursue
his agenda rather than their own.
C. Understanding and meditating on God’s nature and affections towards us causes us to want to draw close to
Him and serve Him wholeheartedly. The idea is this: “a lover will always outwork a worker.” Filling our minds with the
knowledge of God’s character and heart towards us will produce energy in our spirits to give ourselves to 100%
obedience in the task.
VII. THE NEED FOR LEADERSHIP IN THE PLACE OF PRAYER
A. The messages of Zechariah and Haggai were for Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the High Priest) as much
as for the people. They needed the same encouragement so that they would lead the people. There is nothing to
indicate that the leaders were in any better position than the people. (Haggai 1:12; Zechariah 3:6-10; 4:6-14)
B. It is critical that, as leaders, we model the way in prayer. If we do not the people will not do it.
2"When leaders lead in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the LORD! (Judges 5:2)