“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 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?””
Luke 18:1-8 NKJVPersistent
For many believers, prayer is saved for the dire times, when all that we have attempted in the flesh has failed. We walk by sight and not by faith, as we look to what we can do and not what God can accomplish. As a result, many leave the faith, or fade in practice, citing its powerlessness. The reality is that few have really sought to test the Lord and see what He can do.
I am the product of years of relentless prayer by a suffering mother who did not want to give up on her boy. She was like the stubborn widow in Luke chapter 18, pounding on Heaven’s door relentlessly, never losing heart, and on Resurrection Sunday 1998, she received her answer.
Believers today are largely prayerless, as they seek to live Christian lives. Few have a regular time of prayer and praising to the Lord, and fewer still ask others to pray for them. Yet, we all have needs. Years ago God laid it on my heart to begin praying for people.
It started one morning while listening to a christian radio show called Back to the Bible with Woodrow Kroll. He was expounding on Psalm twenty four. He got to verse four, where it foreshadowed the kingdom of the Lord Jesus after His resurrection. Jesus intercedes on our behalf in Heaven.
“The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.”
Psalms 24:1-4 NKJVThose who intercede for others through Christ, must also have clean hands and a pure heart. Because of Jesus, our sin debt has been paid, and as His body was rent on the cross, so the veil was rent from top to bottom. As an intercessor, I have access to God. As I walk in the Spirit, my prayers are heard.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Hebrews 10:19-22 NKJVGiven such glorious access, I feel compelled to use it to lift others up. It is not something to be ignored or neglected. I pray always, until something happens. Sometimes the answers seem slow in coming, as we humans are impatient and expect all that we desire to be granted immediately.
God is all knowing, and is aware of the perfect timing for our prayers to be answered. As believers, we must be constant in praying. My mother prayed for twenty seven years for her wayward son.
In the coming years, we are going to enter a time when prayer will be absolutely necesary. Like Jesus, I wonder if there will be any faith left in the world. We have become a body of doers, rather than believers, as we persist in seeking natural approaches to supernatural situations.
What we may face will be beyond anything we can fathom. It is only by the power of God that we will be able to stand. Let us resolve today to go boldly and pray, seeking the Lord. We are the saints of the Most High God, and He has given us His ear.
May we be persistent like the widow.
THE PRAYER CHAIR IS OPEN! Send me your requests!
Persistent
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Musings from an idle mind 
Praying for your righteous enduring my friend.
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