You Should Pray Always and Don't Lose Heart
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December 12, 2010 |
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 "Now [Jesus] was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, 'In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, "Give me legal protection from my opponent." For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.' And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?'" I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:1-8)
Jesus told us to pray always but not to lose heart in order to receive answers to our prayers. Some prayers are answered immediately, while some others take much more time than expected. Even if it takes much time for you to receive answers, if you patiently and unceasingly pray without losing heart or abandoning prayer in the middle, you can expect to receive answers.
1. A Widow's Persistent Petition and an Unrighteous Judge
The 18th chapter of the Gospel of Luke tells us that when a widow kept coming before an unrighteous judge and persistently asked him to give her legal protection from her opponent, the wicked judge finally answered.
In a city there was an unrighteous judge who did not fear God and neglected the people. One day a widow came to him and petitioned to him and asked him to give her legal protection from her opponent. He welcomed rich people who asked for his help with a large sum of money, but he didn't have any concerns over a poor widow's petition. He first thought the widow would ask a few more times and then she'd finally give up. But she kept coming to him and persistently petitioned before him. In the end, the unrighteous judge listened to her petition.
How much more concern does the God of love show to His children? He listens to our prayer we are offering day and night. Verse 7 says, "Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?"
God promise us that He will answer when we cry out day and night. But why do many believers fail to receive answers? Out good God surely gives us answers to our prayers when we ask by faith (Matthew 7:7-8).
But if we have barriers of sin against God, we cannot receive His answers. It is so important for us to discover the barriers of sin and destroy them. After destroying the barriers of sins, we have to pray continually by faith without losing heart. Then, the Holy Spirit gives us the grace and spirit of repentance and God answers us. When we have not filled the amount of payer worthy for God's answer and the time of answer has not come, we should not give up in the middle, but we must pray continually by faith until we receive answers. Then, we can gain what we have desired.
2. The Reason Why We Should Always Pray
We cannot receive the help of the Holy Spirit without praying. If we cease praying, we will eventually lose the fullness and become disconnected from God, and then the Holy Spirit will be taken away from us. Just as we die if we do not breathe, we die spiritually if we don't pray. Prayer is that crucially important.
Through continual prayer, we can have communication with God and understanding of the will of God. When we live by His will, we can gain salvation and eternal life. Also, when we pray continually we can stand against and defeat the enemy devil. Our struggles are not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of this world, namely, against the forces of darkness and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, so we have to pray always (Ephesians 6:12). We can receive spiritual power from God through prayer and win at spiritual warfare.
God tells us to pray unceasingly and it is the will of God toward us in Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18). To pray is the will and command of God, and Prophet Samuel said "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you" (1 Samuel 12:23).
When we cease praying, fleshly thoughts enter our minds and we go the wrong way. When we get off track we meet with difficulty, have problems and we are not prosperous in all ways. In that situation, some believers fall into temptations, groan against God and even leave Him. That's why we should not pray only when we meet with problems, but we also have to always pray on a regular basis so that we can prosper in everything (1 Peter 5:8-9).
3. In Due Time We Will Reap
Just as Galatians 6:9 reads, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary," it takes time and our patience for us to receive answers to our prayers.
When he saw the future of his nation and people in visions, Prophet Daniel vowed to pray for 3 weeks, namely 21 days with mourning and started praying. God listened to his prayer and on the first day of the 21-day prayer He sent His archangel to answer him. In the middle of coming down to convey God's answer to him, the archangel was stopped by the evil forces of the air and on the 21st day he could fulfill the duty by the help of the commander of the heavenly army (Daniel 10:12-14).
When he saw the future of his people, Daniel became worried and lost strength. But he didn't abandon prayer, but instead he prayed persistently so that he could grasp the will of God through the archangel. In the same way, if we persistently and patiently pray by faith, God sends us helpers and answers us.
From the account in Daniel 10:1-12 we know that after seeing visions, Daniel acted humbly in everything before God to grasp the meanings of the visions. He ate no tasty foods, he ate no meat nor did he drink wine. He did not use any oils or balms at all until the entire three weeks were completed. Since he humbly vowed before God and persistently prayed, God responded to his prayer on the first day.
But we have to remember even though God sent His answer on the first day through His archangel, it took 21 days for Daniel to receive God's answer. If we lose heart because we have not received answers yet, we cannot receive answers because our faith is not confirmed as true faith. If we have true faith, we always pray by faith without looking at the reality or losing heart (James 5:7-8). I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you may believe in the almighty God and patiently pray by faith and then lead a blessed life in the midst of God's continual answers.
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