Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1
Some say that when you make your first request to God it is faith; the second time you pray, it is unbelief. In other words, don’t pray more than once for something lest you are exhibiting doubt. Nothing can be further from the truth. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus exhorts us to pray again and again, and until we get our prayer answers, we should never lose heart.
Jesus talks about a godless, city judge who had great contempt for everyone. A widow of that city came to appeal for justice, “Your Honor, there is this man who has harmed me and cheated me!” The first time the judge heard her case, he threw it out of the courtroom. Not to be deterred, this little widow came back again and again. “Oh, Judge, Judge, please mediate between me and the man who has harmed me,” she pleaded persistently.
Having the same scenario repeated all week long, the widow was really irritating the judge. Finally, at the end of the week, that persistent widow, again came screaming, “Your Honor, please, please, avenge the wrong that is done to me!” Unable to take her whining and complaints any longer, the judge gave in, “Okay, okay, this woman is bothering me so much. I’m going to see that she gets justice, for she is wearing me out with her constant coming!” (18:5 TLB).
Jesus then asked the question: “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (18:7-8).
Faith is persistent praying—crying out day and night to God for answers. The attitude of faith understands that a vision takes time to fulfill. In Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 7:7, the literal rendering of the Greek text is, “ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.” Only by relentless persistence will you receive the answers to your prayers. No wonder blind Bartimaeus could not be silent. He was a man of faith.
When the people around warned him to be quiet, Bartimaeus cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:48). To Jesus, Bartimaeus’ persistence in petitioning prayer demonstrated the genuineness of his faith in God for healing (10:52). Faith is never a dry technique or formula. Faith is a heartfelt attitude that persists in trusting and praying no matter how tough a situation may be.
Some say that when you make your first request to God it is faith; the second time you pray, it is unbelief. In other words, don’t pray more than once for something lest you are exhibiting doubt. Nothing can be further from the truth. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus exhorts us to pray again and again, and until we get our prayer answers, we should never lose heart.
Jesus talks about a godless, city judge who had great contempt for everyone. A widow of that city came to appeal for justice, “Your Honor, there is this man who has harmed me and cheated me!” The first time the judge heard her case, he threw it out of the courtroom. Not to be deterred, this little widow came back again and again. “Oh, Judge, Judge, please mediate between me and the man who has harmed me,” she pleaded persistently.
Having the same scenario repeated all week long, the widow was really irritating the judge. Finally, at the end of the week, that persistent widow, again came screaming, “Your Honor, please, please, avenge the wrong that is done to me!” Unable to take her whining and complaints any longer, the judge gave in, “Okay, okay, this woman is bothering me so much. I’m going to see that she gets justice, for she is wearing me out with her constant coming!” (18:5 TLB).
Jesus then asked the question: “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (18:7-8).
Faith is persistent praying—crying out day and night to God for answers. The attitude of faith understands that a vision takes time to fulfill. In Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 7:7, the literal rendering of the Greek text is, “ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.” Only by relentless persistence will you receive the answers to your prayers. No wonder blind Bartimaeus could not be silent. He was a man of faith.
When the people around warned him to be quiet, Bartimaeus cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:48). To Jesus, Bartimaeus’ persistence in petitioning prayer demonstrated the genuineness of his faith in God for healing (10:52). Faith is never a dry technique or formula. Faith is a heartfelt attitude that persists in trusting and praying no matter how tough a situation may be.
No comments:
Post a Comment