Don’t give up

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,  - Luke 18.1

Jesus taught on many subjects. He taught on things the disciples needed to hear and these are the things that we need to hear as well.

Here Jesus gave a very simple teaching. It is the verse before what we normally call ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’ He introduces the concept of prayer with just a few words. ‘Men ought always to pray and not lose heart.’ Here is another place where though I understand the need for a more modern word, I still personally like the KJV wording better – ‘Men ought always to pray and not to faint.’

Sometimes prayer can actually be discouraging if we have the wrong perspective. We pray and we pray and we pray and nothing seems to happen – nothing changes. We can be tempted to wonder and ask if God really hears our prayers.

But Jesus says always pray and don’t lose heart, no matter what.

The problem is a wrong prayer perspective. It is not about moving God to do what we want or to give us our wishes. Prayer is about communicating with God. As we pray we are drawn into closer communion with Him. The more we pray the more we get to know Him and His will.

When we get in those tough situations we need to do what Jesus said – keep praying and don’t give up. After all – God is in control and He knows the whole picture. It is only by praying that we truly commune with Him and learn to trust Him.