Luke 18:1
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

It can be easy these days to take a look around at all that is going on in the world and begin to lose the hope that things will ever get better! Jesus wants you to hold on to your hope and not lose heart ~ He is still God of all!

The parable that Jesus told was this: “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The concept behind that is; if an unjust ruler can bring justice even though he has no respect for God or man, how much more will God do for those who love and serve Him? What have you been pouring your heart out to God over? God has heard your prayers, don’t lose heart, He will come through. I know if you are even a little bit like me, when you read that parable and it says, “he will give justice to them speedily” you are thinking that it doesn’t seem to be very “speedy” right now while you are waiting……. God sees the big picture and His timing is perfect, you just have to trust Him on that one! Don’t lose heart in the ‘wait’!

Maybe your problem isn’t that you have lost heart, you haven’t had any hope in your situation getting better or straightened out from the get go! His answer for that is found in verse 27 of this chapter, ‘But He said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Nothing is too difficult for Him! He can help straighten out your finances, He can bring that child back home, He can mend your broken heart, He can work in your marriage, He can even turn some of our craziness that is happening in our government around if He so chooses. The key is that you have to give it to Him! God isn’t going to touch anything that you have a death grip on and are determined to fix it yourself. When you shut Him out, you are on your own and trust me that is not a good place to be!

Please let me encourage you today to not lose hope but to always pray! Pray about it every time it comes to your mind! Hold on to the hope and understanding that God’s got this! The best is yet to come!

Quote:
“When there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.” John Maxwell