WEEK 9:  DEVOTIONAL ON PRAYER

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”   Luke 18:1

In this editorial introduction by Luke, a clear statement of purpose for the parable to follow is given. Luke goes straight to the bottom line of what the parable teaches.  The Greek tense ties this passage in with the preceding discourse on the coming of the Kingdom of God, and its apparent slowness in coming calls for persistence in prayer. It is clear that prayer is prescribed as a remedy for fainting in the difficult days ahead that the followers of Jesus will face. God’s timing is often so different than ours. We need to pray and keep praying our way through the forest of difficulties and disappointments.   

When praying men fail to see a sign of the answer they are asking for or desire, it is easy to be discouraged. In the moments of God’s apparent silence, the person of prayer must persevere. Persistent prayer is built on the foundation of faith. Prayer must be stronger than our feelings and our circumstances.  Our lack of ability to see the handiwork of God does not mean that God is not at work. The pain of discouragement can cause a leak in the pool of faith and hinder prayer. The major cause of discouragement is a temporary loss of perspective. Faith enables us to look at things from God’s point of view, which renews the heart.  

The Jews tended to limit their times of prayer, lest they weary God. Three times a day was accepted as the maximum amount to pray. The good news is that you cannot wear God out. You can wear yourself or others out, but you cannot wear God out.  Many parents have grown tired of the persistent and unending questions of their children, but our Heavenly Father never grows tired of His children coming to Him in prayer. One can never pray too much. 

We tend to live in a world of instant gratification. We desire Microwave answers to prayer which would rob us of the time spent with our Heavenly Father around the slow-cooking fires of persistence. It is the practice of prayer that molds us into the people of prayer God desires us to become. 

The word translated “give up” means to become weary or tired, to lose heart or despair. The fear is that we give in before we have prayed through or experienced the answer of God. Some have bought into thought that if prayer does not work right away in the way we desire, we should try something else or a different approach. The truth is that we need to keep praying until God changes us, our prayers, or the situation we are praying about. Edison tried more than 200 different substances in attempting to find a filament for his incandescent light bulb. Someone once said to him, “You have failed more than 200 times, why don’t you give up?” His answer was, “Not at all. I have discovered more than 200 things that will not work. I will soon find one that will.” May we pray with the same persistence.  Prayer never fails. Persistent prayer is part of the learning process on the journey of discovering and experiencing God’s Sovereignty and will in our lives.