Praying Without Losing Heart

"[Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." Luke 18:1 I believe the greatest challenge of prayer for every Christian is to have a long-term view of the results. In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of a widow who sought justice from a judge and relentlessly pursued it until he gave her justice. The judge was exhausted by her persistent requests and gave her what she asked for because he just couldn't stand it anymore. Jesus contrasts who He called the "unrighteous judge" with God and his willingness to hear and answer the persistent prayers of His people. He indicated that the key to persistence is faith. When we pray, we activate faith in God who created all things, gives life to all creation, and sustains life. When we pray, we take our internal cares and give them to God. When we pray, we transfer trust in our own understanding and ability and place them entirely at the mercy of God and His perfect will. It's not easy to exercise that kind of faith because we have no control over how and when God responds. We simply approach God and make our requests known to Him. (Phil 4:6). Then, we have an assurance that there will always be an answer to our requests because that's just how God works (1 John 5:14-15). With this assurance, we also accept the difficult truth that we may not actually see the answer ourselves because God answers all prayers according to His will. He will fulfill His promises, His plan, and His purpose for our lives when and how He decides. How we feel about this matters less than how we respond with faith in God who knows and does what's best. So, what are we praying for? We "ought always to pray and not lose heart." How long have we been praying for it? We "ought always to pray and not lose heart." Does it seem impossible that the people and circumstances we're praying for could change for the better? We "ought always to pray and not lose heart."   Prayer is the most powerful work the Christian can do after putting our faith in Jesus. You don't have to be a pastor, missionary, or Christian for 50 years to see God work through prayer. Simply believe and don't lose heart. I'm praying for you! Thank you for praying for me too. Grace & Peace, Pastor Keith *This blog post was originally published in our email newsletter