Persistent Prayer

SCRIPTURE
Luke 18: 1-8

1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Mark 14: 35-36

[Regarding Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his crucifixion]
35 He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. 36 “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

PRAYER
Lord, there is a quiet longing deep within ______’s being, a desire of her heart. And yet, because of sin and circumstance she is tempted to give it up, to push it away, to stop believing, to pretend that she no longer longs. But she cannot hide that passion from you; you see it and understand it completely, and she knows that. I ask that you would place within her a renewed passion of persistence to, “always pray and never give up.” Fuel that in her heart. I ask that you would give her permission to, “plead with you day and night.” I ask that you would give her permission to own the desires of her heart fully, and pray them unashamedly, just as you prayed yours in the Garden, and yet fully submit her will to yours. May she give up the scheme, but never the dream. May she leave the “how” to your sovereign power, but never give up the “what” of her deepest longings. Fortify her faith, so that she believes with every ounce of her soul that you WILL indeed answer her prayer, and “quickly”. May she be one of the few whom you find to have faith when you return. And when her faith is weak, remind her that she is not alone, that there are others who join her in her prayers with enough faith to make up for her occasional lack. And Lord, as she pleads with you, I ask that you would release within her a wellspring of fresh hope. Amen.


ENCOURAGEMENT
Own your longings. Plead them continually. Submit your will to his. But, never, never, never, ever give up.

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Dave's Life Coaching
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