TEXT: LUKE 18:1
“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”_
Most prayers that people prayed and got no answers resulted from their quickly taking “No” for answers. If they had prayed and prayed again, they might have received the answer. When Abraham was asking God for a child and there was no answer from heaven, if he had not continued to pray for good twenty five years, he would have said that God was not willing to give him a child. When Elijah made the declaration of abundance of rain, if he was not asking his boy to keep going for upto 7 times, he would have said that God was unable to fulfill His promise.
Two common factors among those who walk by faith are: they do not take “No” for answers and they do not have alternative for their expectations. In the story from today’s text, a woman went to a judge who did not fear God nor man. The woman asked him to get justice for her from her adversary. The woman did not leave his place but kept asking the judge to get justice for her. After much persistence, the judge said in verse 5 “because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me’. Her decision not to take “No” as her answer got her the blessing.
Jesus now said in verse 7&8 “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”. This means faith is being able to pray continually until the answer comes. Faith is calling your miracles to life until it comes. Faith is praying through, faith is not taking ‘NO’ for an answer. This is why Jesus said in our text today “…that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” This means losing heart is equal to giving your answer to the enemy, it means letting go of your own blessing freely.
The price for faith is always very high but the reward is awesome. When Sarah eventually gave birth to Isaac after several years of waiting, Genesis 21:6-7 “And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” Also when Hannah finally gave birth to Samuel after so much ridicule, she said in 1 Samuel 2:1 ” ..My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies..”(KJV). Wow, awesome rewards for faith, awesome testimonies to the glory of God and to the shame of the devil. Greater and sweeter rewards and testimonies await you if you will not take “NO” for answer Hallelujah.
Confession
Father, thank you for your word today. I will pray and pray again until my answers manifest to the glory of God and shame of the devil in Jesus’ name.
Daily Bible Reading: LAMENTATION 4, PROVERBS 22, EPHESIANS 5, DEUTERONOMY 20
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