Week 43 - Day 1

Luke 16-18; Proverbs 19

*Click here to read these passages:

Luke 16-18 YouVersion(NIV)

Proverbs 19 YouVersion(NIV)

Reminded today to “always pray and not give up”; to ask and keep asking.  Jesus tells a parable in Luke 18 about a persistent widow who kept coming to a judge with a certain plea over and over.  It says the judge did not care about her, but granted her request because she kept asking and asking.  If an unjust judge will grant a persistent request, how much more will God the father honor those who cry out to Him day and night?

Then in the story of the blind beggar the man kept crying out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  When people tried to hush him up he “shouted all the more.”  He was persistent.  And when Jesus had the man brought to Him, Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”  I have always found that part of this story interesting.  Jesus already knew what this man needed and wanted, but He asked him to say it out loud.  God already knows what we need, but He desires us to ask Him for it.  He desires that relationship and constant communication with us. 

Here is where I struggle though sometimes … and maybe someone else can relate to this … when you pray for something over and over and get to the point that it becomes hard to keep praying for it.  I don’t know if that makes sense or not, but sometimes when you’ve said the same words so many times and haven’t seen the answer, it becomes harder to know how to pray for that anymore.  I came across this verse that was of great encouragement to me in this area:

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along.  If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter.  He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.  He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our condition, and keeps us present before God.” Romans 8:26-27 MSG

I was also reminded today of where it says in Galatians 6: “Carry each other’s burdens.”  We’re supposed to pray for one another.

God wants us to be persistent in our prayers, to ask and keep asking.  But He also knows that we need help sometimes for when it is hard to keep asking on our own.  He provides the Spirit who comes alongside us and helps us, and He provides other faithful believers who can help carry the burden as well.