| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Mighty Prevailing Prayer” Our Bible verse for today: “Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up …” Luke 18:1 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Pray and don’t give up.” Throughout this month we’ve considered numerous examples of mighty prayer warriors who persisted in prayer until they prevailed in prayer. Their persistence was the key to their prevailing. They refused to give up. Sometimes they had to pray for years without ceasing, but they refused to give up. That was the lesson Jesus taught in Luke 18:1-8. It was the story of a poor widow who needed justice. The person she was appealing to was an unkind and uncaring judge who didn’t want to be bothered. But because the widow refused to give up, the judge ultimately granted her request just to make her go away. The point of Jesus’ story was that if someone as unkind and uncaring as that judge would ultimately honor persistence, how much more will our kind and loving and compassionate heavenly Father do so? Luke even tells us in verse 1 that the point of the story was to teach us to persist in prayer and not give up. Jesus ended His parable in verse 8 by saying that such persistence is a sign of the faith that God is looking for. Throughout the month we’ve also considered multiple reasons why God sometimes delays answers to our prayers. One is simply to hold us in prayer. Often the only time we pray with passion and fervor is when we need something. But ultimately, we need fellowship with God more than we need the specific answer to prayer. So, sometimes He will delay the answer just to keep us there with Him in prayer longer. Other times there are things in the life of the one we’re praying for that need to happen or need to change before the prayer can be answered, and that change can take time – sometimes a lot of time. And also, there are often things in our own lives that need to change before God will grant the request. All of us have things going on in our lives that we wish weren’t there; or we have loved ones we’re praying for; or there are numerous other prayer requests that seem vitally important to us and which we desperately want an answer to. The key is to keep praying. Don’t give up. It may take years. It may take a lifetime. It may turn out that we are better off that God doesn’t grant the request. We don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus teaches us to pray and to not give up. Persist in prayer until you prevail in prayer. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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