Luke 18: 1-8, Then Jesus told his disciples a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart.  “In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people.  There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me a judgement against the man who is trying to ruin me.’ For a long time he refused; but after a while he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God, and I don’t respect other people, but because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see to it that she gets justice~ otherwise she will keep coming and pestering me until she wears me out!’”  Then the Lord commented, “ Notice what this corrupt judge says.  Now won’t God grant justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night?  Is He delaying long over them?  I tell you He will judge in their favor, and quickly!  But when the Son of man comes will He find faith on the earth at all?”

How long have you been praying for it?  I know we all have some things that are so dear to our hearts that we pray about that the wait can some days almost seem unbearable.  I know the words, “ He will judge in their favor and quickly” can cause us to pause and say, “Wait ~ what?!  Quickly?  It’s been years….”  Our “quickly” and His “quickly” don’t always quite seem the same but there are reasons for any time God seems to be delayed, sometimes it’s for our growth and sometimes it is for someone else’s, so we must persevere in prayer and not give up!  That reminds me of a funny story I heard the other day about a young man talking with God and he asked, “God how much is a million dollars to you?”  God replied, “ Oh, a million dollars is like a penny to me”. So the young man asked, “Well, how long is a thousand years to you?” And God said, “A hundred years is like a second to me” So the young man asked, “ So God will you give me a million dollars?” And God said, “Sure, just a second!” LOL ok, so while that is a silly joke, sometimes we forget that God sees the whole picture and He knows the best timing and we just need to persevere in prayer!  Don’t give up because it has been a while. 

Writing down what you are praying about and putting dates for when the prayer is answered is a great way to remind yourself of the answers you have received.  Another important thing to do when you are writing out your prayer list is to take the time to write out the promises of God next to them and pray that scripture too!  Prayer is such an incredible opportunity we have to draw close to our incredible God and we should be intentional in every aspect of it!  Too often it is that thing we rush through because we have so many pressing things in our life we need to get to and yet it is a time to meet with The ONLY ONE who can do anything about everything in our lives!  You would think we would be the opposite and we would have to be dragged away from our prayer closets, but that is sadly, rarely the case. Prayer is very important, not just to get answers but to our spiritual growth. There isn’t a relationship out there that would grow if there was no communication!  Same with your relationship with Him!  

Let’s all take the time to evaluate what we can do to grow and be more intentional in our prayer lives. It’s not as much about the words you pray as it is about the heart you are praying with.  Seek His face!  Take the time to read your Bible so you know what His word says and write down verses that relate to what you are praying about. Pour your heart out to Him, pray for the faith and trust you need to grow, and ask Him what His dreams are for your life!  He has a plan and His timing is perfect!  Trust Him, knowing He is always working out that plan of His, regardless of what we may see or don’t see, the important thing is to make sure you are walking with Him in order for His plans to be fulfilled in your life!  If you aren’t already ~ start today by getting intentional and persevering in prayer!

Quote:  “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”  ~ Martin Luther