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