Luke 18

Luke 18:1-8  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  ² He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.'  ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man,  ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'"  ⁶ And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  ⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Most of us have at least one; one thing that we have been praying for, sometimes off and on, over the years.  For some, they pray for a better job with better pay.  For others, it may be for a family member to find salvation.  Some pray for a better lifestyle for themselves, others pray that their children would know a better way of life than they did.  Some lift up prayers to find a spouse…and then to have children – these also fall into this category.  Most of us have at least one.

When someone asks me to join them in prayer for one of these kinds of things, the first question I ask is, “have you really been praying for this?”  It’s interesting to me how often people stop and think and then admit that no, they really haven’t been praying…but they’ve really been wanting.  If they have been praying, I ask about consistency.  Oftentimes we pray about something for a couple days and then forget about it for a while.  I love today’s passage.  It promises us that God will answer those who consistently seek.  If God is not answering, are you consistently seeking?

If the answer is yes, then I dive a little deeper into the motivation of the prayer.  Are you praying for better transportation or a brand new convertible?  Are you praying for a job to support your family or are you hoping to “one up” the neighbors with new and improved upgrades?  We need to make sure that our motives are in line with what God would have for us.  Showing up the neighbors with a new pool in our backyard is not really what He is in to.  Now don’t get me wrong – God loves to bless His children and often loves to “wow” us, but when we insist on something specific like a little child, God will often treat us like a little child and tell us no.  Sometimes He says no because He knows what is best.  Or maybe His answer is not yet.  Maybe He is preparing something for us better than we can imagine right around the corner.

We need to develop the discipline of prayer – consistently seeking Him.  Seek Him with all your needs, feel free to offer suggestions, but be open to His will and His timing…He is way more creative than we ever could be.  If we insist on our way, we may miss out on a surprise blessing He has for us!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy