I used to think that if I asked God for something and He didn’t respond immediately the answer was no. My faith was immature and not based on scripture. One of my favorite parables today is found in Luke 18. It is the parable of the persistent widow. I love this parable!  For years I had read it but had not really grasped it’s importance. Jesus told this parable, IT IS IMPORTANT!  🙂 Understanding it’s importance has changed my prayer life.  When I am praying for something or someone that is very important to me,  I no longer ask a few times and then assume God is saying no.  When I consider giving up I remember this parable and remember that there are times God expects us to persevere in our prayers. If something is important enough to ask Him for, we must be willing to show Him we are serious about it.

When my children were little, often one of them would ask me for something and then when I answered, “We’ll see,” the request would soon be forgotten. When they didn’t forget and kept asking I knew this was something they really wanted. Sometimes adults, like children ask for silly things that they really don’t want or need. Sometimes we come to God and ask for foolish things that would harm us rather than help us. James 4:3 NIV ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  It really is a blessing that God does not answer some of the prayers we offer up. In hindsight, I know in my life I have asked for some things that would have not been good for me in the long run.

When we have a serious request or burden and we take it to the Lord in prayer we must be willing to persevere. We must be like the persistent widow and show our seriousness about the matter. Jesus himself shared this parable, Jesus who knows the heart of the Father like no one else. If He is saying we must be persistent than that’s good enough for me!

Luke 18:1-8 NIV 

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ 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? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

 Jesus tells us that if the unjust judge will eventually give in, how much more can we count on a holy, just God to answer His chosen ones! We who follow Christ, must not be wishy washy when we come to God with our prayers and petitions. Through the blood of Christ, we can boldly come before the throne of God with our requests.  If our requests are asked with wrong selfish motives, God will not answer them but if we come to Him with legitimate requests that are not simply for our own selfish pleasures, we can expect an answer. We must be willing to not give up, just like the persistent widow. We must continue to bring our requests to the ONE whose timing is perfect. He WILL answer!

We should pray when we are in a praying mood, for it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity. We should pray when we are not in a proper mood, for it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition.~Charles Spurgeon