Incentives to Keep Praying (Part 1)

Luke 18:1-8 - Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. he said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' " And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

There's a magazine cartoon that shows a little fellow kneeling beside his bed for his bedtime prayer. He says with some measure of disgust, "Dear God, Uncle Jim still doesn't have a job; Sis still doesn't have a date for the social; Grandma is still feeling sick - and I'm tired of praying for this family and not getting results."

Probably all of us have felt this way, at one time or another, in regard to our prayers. Each one of us has probably felt like quitting. Each one of us has probably felt like giving up on seeing answers to our prayers. Probably more than a few of us have actually stopped praying, maybe not altogether, but we have quit praying for certain things. Things that God had laid on our heart! Things that are important and not trivial. Things like seeing a loved one saved or return to Christ. Things like having a marriage restored ministry successful, sickness or infirmity healed, or an urgent need met. We quit praying because of discouragement and doubt. We quit praying because we sometimes wonder if it does pay to pray. Even though we would never voice such thoughts, the idea does sometimes come into our minds.

Jesus knew that his disciples would be tempted to quit praying. Jesus had just talked to his disciples about his return and the coming Kingdom of God. He told them that his coming, and the establishment of Kingdom of God with it, might be delayed and that during this time they would long for his return. Things would not be as good as they longed for them to be.

Keep on praying because sometimes the answer to prayer will be delayed.

In other words, we should not stop praying just because we don't see results quickly. In verse 1 we are told that Jesus gave this parable to show his disciples that they "should always pray and not give up." There would be no need for such a teaching if most prayers were answered quickly!

This knowledge motivates us because we're now not going to be discouraged when the answer does not come quickly; we will recognize that the delay is what Jesus told us to expect. Do not make the mistake of equating a delay in the answer to your prayers as a denial to answer your prayers. You can pray for something that is within the will of God and still not see a quick or easy answer.

Perhaps you have stopped praying fervently for something important also? Perhaps you have grown discouraged or convinced that your prayers will not be answered? Perhaps you have thought, like I did, that maybe your request was not in God's will after all and you therefore accepted the status quo? If so, I hope you will do like I did and get back on your knees and keep praying.

...to be continued...