Jesus teaches us about persistent prayer - Luke 18:1-30
Jesus tells his disciples to never give up, never stop praying. He promises that He will bring justice for those who cry out day and night. Jesus emphasizes the importance of humbling ourselves before God, "for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." For only God is good, and if we think ourselves high and mighty, we will be humbled. Jesus emphasizes this when He talks to the rich man, reminding him that only God is good. We are to follow the commandments, and above all, give to the poor, for we are to help those who cannot help themselves, just as Jesus helped us. We are to keep our eyes on Jesus, never stop praying, and live a life dedicated and sacrificed to Jesus.
Questions:
-What do you deeply want God to accomplish in your life?
I want God to change my heart to being fully focused on Him, to take away all the self-centered parts, to make me into the person He wants me to be, someone who cares about others above myself and loves freely, without restraint or second thoughts. Most deeply, I just want God to use me to make a difference in some shape or fashion.
But what I want most deeply is for God to heal my little brother and the strained relationships in my family. That's as in-depth with that prayer request as I'm going on the internet. I also have a number of friends and family members I (try to) pray for daily.
-What does the widow represent to us as disciples of Jesus? What attributes were probably true of her that need to be true of your prayer life and approach to the Father?
She is persistent, she doesn't give up. She knows what she wants and she won't stop fighting for it - even if fighting just means begging for it. She's patient, too. Though she doesn't see the fruits of her labor, she continues working towards her goal. She doesn't stop just because she's being told "no" or lose hope. Now there is obviously a point when we should stop praying. If God is telling us "no" then that's the answer. We may not understand it, we may think what we're asking for is a good thing, but if God is saying "no" then it means we have a chance to see Him provide for us, it means He has a better thing for us. But we are to be persistent in our prayers, asking for things and continuing to go to God with our requests, even if we don't see results now, like praying for a sister, brother, or grandparent who doesn't know God. Years of prayer may not seem to be making a difference, but we shouldn't give up on them, or on the work God may be doing in their lives.
-Never giving up takes discipline and consistency. In what ways do you struggle to build those things into your prayer life? Why do you think it is so hard to stay persistent in prayer?
It's just easy to give up when results aren't immediate or readily seen. Like this person I've been praying about for at least two years now. I go off and on remembering to pray daily for them, simply because I'm not seeing any results, any difference in their action or personality or how they communicate with me, and it is disheartening at times. It's easy to lose hope when results can't be seen, I'm the kind of person who wants results, and if I don't see them then what I'm doing clearly isn't working, so I move on to the next attempt. It can be hard to constantly ask, beg, plea for something and not see or hear anything.
-Prayer is a powerful thing - it can move the heart of God. What would you ask God for if he told you the answer would be yes? What's keeping you from asking again and again?
I would ask for justice for those enslaved. I would ask that everyone in the world open their hearts to Jesus and know His love. And I'd ask for Alex to be healed. And I am asking for that last one, daily. But I think the other requests I balk from because they're so unreasonable and huge, because if God made every person love Him then there would be no free will, and because I don't think He'll do it, because often God lets us learn things ourselves, screw our world up massively, because that's how we learn. So maybe I don't ask because I doubt, not His ability, but that He will do it. I recently read a challenge to pray for the world everyday, though, even though that is a huge undertaking and seems unreasonable, irrational even. Because often that's what faith is - unreasonable and irrational. So I've actually been trying to pray for the world now, because that's God's heart - this world full of His children - and so it should be my heart too.
-What do you have trouble believing God for?
The practical aspects of provision. I know and believe that God provides for our needs, I don't doubt that, but sometimes the actual feeling and seeing that provision is hard to believe in, because living by faith does seem so irrational and illogical in worldly terms. Sometimes I have trouble believing in that.
-Who in your life models the persistence of the widow?
I'd say the closest would be Leanne Downing. I've never met someone so connected with the Spirit, so confident in Jesus and His provision for our lives. She really follows God's voice, and it's been very inspirational.
Prayer is so important, so powerful. In the past months I've been thinking about prayer and its power more and more. God has shown me where my prayer has been very weak and self-focused, and I've been trying to pray in different ways - focusing on God and His kingdom vision, rather than my own, praying for my goals to align with His, praying about and for others rather than all about myself and my own spiritual growth. Prayer is something we can never stop growing in, we can never be "perfect prayers" - God is always teaching and growing us. It's our personal, direct contact with Jesus. He contacts back in many ways, different for every person and for every individual's personal walk with Jesus. I know I've personally heard Jesus talk to me a couple of times, and they remain some of my best, most wonderful memories, though they happened in times of pain and sorrow, because Jesus became so real for me, I felt Him and His voice and His love and His comfort so clearly and strongly, and that was through prayer. We can't get enough of prayer, we should never settle into the lie that we needn't persist. Jesus persists in pursuing us, and we should persist in pursuing Him.
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