Forty Days of Prayer: Day 38

Luke 18:1-8a

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!"

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly."

I love this passage. I love this passage. I LOVE this passage! These words come straight from the mouth of our Savior, telling us in what manner we should talk to Him: "pray and not give up." We have permission to knock and keep knocking, persistently, consistently, day and night, night and day. The question is, are we doing it?

Jesus is encouraging us to be like this widow. She approached this (uncaring) judge, pleading on and on, and then received what she asked for, which in her case was "justice against her adversary." Likewise, our act of approaching the Lord shows Him two things about our faith: one, that we depend on Him to fight for us, and two, that we believe in Him to be the Victor.

Now, as we lift each persistent request, we must remember also that prayer is just as much, and even more so, about strengthening our faith in God as it is about getting our hopeful answers. He is absolutely concerned about fighting our battles and blessing us with His victories...yet in His time and way. For example, yesterday, I prayed and prayed and prayed for a specific blessing for one of my kids, but at the end of the day, the answer was an obvious "no." Does this mean I shouldn't have prayed for this blessing? Or that God is not just? Or that He does not care? Or that the enemy won? Absolutely not. On days like this, which are often because I am human, I am learning to fervently pray in the temporal, yet not without keeping the eternal in mind as well. The temporal is like a drip drop; the eternal is like the ocean. God is graciously at work in both realms at the same time. Ladies, God cares about blessing our drip-drop-days, but not without also encompassing us in His ocean of just and victorious love!

After a day of praying like I did yesterday, I can rejoice that God heard every persistent knock and every consistent cry of my heart for my son (and for others). At the end of the day, I lifted up my empty hands and praised the Lord for working more in the eternal realm of blessing than the temporal one. I fully know and believe that His answers are far better than any story I could ever write. I want His righteousness, justice, and love, not my own perception of it.

So don't give up Soul Sisters. Keep "badgering" your Father, who unlike the judge in this parable, is full of grace and mercy concerning your situation. Our persistence does not tire Him; rather, it inspires Him. Again, today, I'm going back to the Lord, trusting, asking, seeking, knocking, not giving up on any of the requests on my list--because Jesus told me to do this very thing in His word.

Won't you join me? I guarantee, at the end of this day, your faith will be greater...and that alone is an eternal blessing waiting for you when your head hits the pillow tonight.

For further reading: Psalm 55:16-17; Matthew 7:7-11; Colossians 4:2

Dear Lord,

We are thankful that You both desire and reward our persistent pleading. We ask You to be with us as we walk out our faith; help us to dialogue with You every single step. We lift every care and concern up to You, over and over and over again, trusting You with the timely answers. Mighty God of ocean-size-love, please engulf our drip drop day. Amen.