Persistent Prayer

So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them? I assure you, he will.
~ From Luke 18:1-8 ~

In Luke 18.1-8, we read how Jesus teaches a story on Persistent Prayer...a widow badgers a judge who cares nothing for God or people, but because of her consistency and her persistence, the judge finally grants the widow her desires.

From the quote above, Jesus tells us that if an unloving judge will give to this widow, how much more will our Heavenly Father give to us. We see the same type of teaching in Matthew 7.11, which says:

Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?

So we know God will do His part, the question is, will we do ours? Going back to the verse above, the rest of Luke 18.8 says,

But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?"

James 1:5-8 goes onto say,

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

Three things to ask ourselves about our Prayers:

1. Is our Faith in God Alone?
2. Do we really believe?
3. Are we persistent?

"The revelation of our spiritual standing is what we ask in Prayer; sometimes what we ask is an insult to God; we ask with our eyes on the possibilities or on ourselves, not on Jesus Christ.

~ Oswald Chambers ~