Christians are to pray as long as it
takes.
How
long do you keep on praying when you don’t see an answer?
Jesus
knew that we can easily get discouraged about prayer. So he told the story in Luke 18. Quite a humorous story. Jesus loved to use rascals as object
lessons. Here’s this tug of war between
this powerful judge and this powerless widow.
The judge is hard-boiled, godless, unsympathetic, heartless,
callous. He couldn’t care less about
this widow or anyone else. Yet he has
all the power. The widow is
powerless. She has no clout, no
leverage, no power. In those days widows
were at the bottom of the social ladder.
But she does have one thing.
Persistence. She goes and begins
to badger the judge saying, “I want justice.
I demand it right now.” She
really makes a nuisance of herself until finally the judge, exhausted, just
gives in.
There’s
two kinds of stories Jesus told. One is
a parable of comparison: God is like this…
The other is a parable of contrast: God is not like this.
This
is a parable of contrast. God is not
like this judge. Jesus is saying, “If a
heartless, ungodly judge will eventually give in to the request because it’s
asked enough times, how much more will your Heavenly Father who loves you
answer your prayers?”
If
that’s true, if God really wants to answer my prayers, how come my prayers
aren’t being answered? I’ve prayed for
changes in my life and they haven’t taken place. I’ve prayed for miracles and they haven’t happened
yet. It’s a legitimate question.
So
Jesus told the story, Luke 18:1 (NIV) “He
told His disciples a parable to show that they should always pray and not give
up.
Ephesians
6:18 (LIV) “Pray all the time.” Romans 12:2 (GWT)“Pray continually.” 1
Thessalonians 5:17 (ICB)“Never stop
praying.”
Nowhere
in the Bible does it say you can stop praying just because you get
discouraged. Nowhere in the Bible does
it say you can just give up and quit because the answer hasn't happened on your
timetable. The Bible says, “Never stop praying… Keep on believing… Keep
on asking.”
Is
there ever a time when I can stop praying for a particular issue? Yes, there are two exceptions, two times when
you can stop praying about a particular issue.
One, when God changes the situation, you can stop praying. In other words, He answers
your request and the situation is changed.
If what you’ve been praying for happens, then obviously you can stop
praying.
Two, when God changes you, then you can stop praying. Sometimes as God grows you and develops you, you realize, “I don’t want to pray for that
any more because that’s not what I really want any more. I wanted that in that immature stage but now
as I’ve matured, I don’t need that any more.
So I’m not praying for it.” So
God says it’s ok to stop praying. God
has not changed the situation but He’s changed you.
Somebody
came to Daniel Boone the famous frontiersman one time and asked, “Have you ever
gotten lost in the wilderness?’ He said,
“No, I’ve never been lost. I’ve been
bewildered for weeks at a time but I’ve never been lost.” When you’re bewildered you just keep on
going.
The
point of the story is don’t be discouraged.
Don’t give up. Look up. Don’t
despair. Turn to prayer.
Isaiah
49:23c (TEV) “The Lord says, no one who waits for my help will be
disappointed."
Read: Luke 18:1-8
