One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
"There was a judge in a certain city," he said, "who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, 'Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.' The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, 'I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'" Then the Lord said, "Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?" Luke 18:1-8 (New Living Translation).
This story serves to remind us that perseverance in prayer will pay off because it takes faith to persevere! God is not only attentive to the prayers of His people, He desires to give them the justice they crave. There is a lot of evil dealings in our world, and often God is the only refuge we can find as we suffer from injustice. However, when we allow the thinking of this world to invade our lives, it is easy to simply give up and stop believing God.
We must remind ourselves that God rewards faith and that faith is often best revealed when the answer seems to be slow in coming.
"And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Hebrews 11:6 (New Living Translation).
As you read through the faith chapter of Hebrews 11, you will see that many biblical heroes had to persevere through long seasons of waiting for their prayers to be answered.
"We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 11:6 (New International Version).
Prayers are answered when we persevere through seasons of patient waiting. The widow obtained her answer from an unrighteous judge, and we will obtain our answers from the Righteous Judge in the same way. We must always pray, which takes faith, and we must never give up, which takes patience.
This is how we receive what has been promised to us through prayer and perseverance!
Action Step:
- Have you given up on some of your prayer requests lately?
- Have you truly persevered in your prayers, or did you quit way too soon?
- Remember to always pray (faith) and to never give up (patience/perseverance)!
Review:
1. Prayer Is Simply Talking And Listening To God.
2. Prayer Should Flow From A Contrite Heart.
3. Your Prayers Should Be Confident.
4. Your Prayers Should Be Concise And To The Point.
5. Your Prayers Should Be Consistent And Constant.
6. Pray In Jesus' Name.
7. Pray About Everything!
8. You Do Not Have Because You Don't Ask God.
9. Asking God With The Wrong Motive Doesn't Work.
10. Ask Expecting To Receive From God.
11. Ask God To Bless Your Enemies As You Pray.
12. Ask The Lord To Make You More Loving As You Pray.
13. Make Talking To God A Priority Every Day.
14. Pray According To God's Will.
15. Prayer Frames Help Shape Our Prayers.
16. Ask God To Change The Way You Think.
17. Think At A Higher Level When You Pray.
18. Where The Mind Goes The Person Follows.
19. Always Pray And Never Give Up.
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