“Never stop praying.”  1 Thessalonians 5:17  (NLT)

Have you ever wondered whether or not your persistent prayers were aggravating to God?  That praying for someone or something over and over was pointless?  I was recently in a discussion with someone who believed we should pray only once for something and then move on to the next prayer.  So I checked it out.  That’s not what the bible tells us.  I’m certain that God wants us to persevere through prayer.  I believe God wants us to be persistent in our prayer life.  This is what I found.

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people.  A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’  The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.  Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”   (Luke 18:1-8  NLT)

Jesus reminds us through this parable that we should always pray and never give up.  The judge granted the woman’s request because of her perseverance, not because of her eloquence.  I am sure this woman did not come to the judge’s door, and quietly knock, saying “Please, if you don’t mind”.   No, she was crying, banging on the door as hard as she could, over and over, day after day after day, begging and pleading, “PLEASE!  GIVE ME JUSTICE IN THIS DISPUTE WITH MY ENEMY!”

I know of a modern day persistent widow named Kate.  Kate prayed for her son’s salvation every single day.  After many months of praying daily, she felt led to fast.  Kate was a connoisseur of cake.  It didn’t matter what type of cake; she loved it all.  Kate believed that if she were to fast the one food she loved the most, surely God would honor her request.  So every day, day in and day out, she fasted cake and prayed for her son’s salvation.  Some days were harder than others as she cried out to the Lord, banging on Heaven’s door, pleading with God to intervene in her son’s life.  Days turned into weeks; weeks into months; and months turned into years.  For twenty years, as Kate prayed for her son’s salvation, not one piece of cake touched her lips.

Then one day, her son came to her, and shared that he had made a decision to follow the Lord.  Kate was ecstatic, and describes her son finding Christ similar to the parable of the Prodigal Son.  She welcomed her son with open arms and threw a party for him.  And they celebrated with the biggest, sweetest, most decadent cake she could find!

Persevere in your prayer life.  Bang on Heaven’s door!  Beg, plead and cry out to God for justice.  It might take minutes, days, weeks, months, or 20 years, but God loves us and He loves the people we pray for.  He hears our prayers.  Don’t for one minute believe that our prayers are annoying or pointless.  Believe that our prayers are music to God’s ears.

Never stop praying.

Peace be with you.

Julia