From the Prayer Corner - Luke 18:1 - "Never Lose Heart!"

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“Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show that they must always pray and never lose heart.”

 

A magazine cartoon has a little fellow kneeling beside his bed for his bedtime prayer and saying with some measure of disgust, “Dear God, Uncle Jim still doesn’t have a job; Sis still doesn’t have a date for the social; Grandma is still feeling sick – and I’m tired of praying for this family and not getting results!”  Praying was a problem for this little fellow and he isn’t alone. Prayer is a problem for many modern people too.

 

If it wasn’t a problem, then why do we find it so hard to take prayer seriously and to set time aside everyday to spend with God in prayer?  If we really believe that God is a God of love, forgiveness, compassion and gentleness; that He can change us, that He can heal broken lives and restore severed relationships, then we would really be serious about praying to Him. In fact, if we really believed this then nothing would be able to keep us from praying.

 

But the problem is that too often our earnestness and sincerity in prayer give way to discouragement. And we lose heart, and we simply give up.

 

If you think that this is a particularly modern problem, think again. It was also an issue back in Jesus’ day and so Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer through parables and words of encouragement.  Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, one of the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord teach us to pray” (11:1). It’s not that this disciple had never prayed before but that he had seen something different in the way Jesus prayed and wanted to learn more. Jesus obliges and gives us what we know as the Lord’s Prayer as a kind of model prayer.  In Luke 18 we hear Jesus’ teaching about prayer again – and His answer to the question on how to endure is, Pray! Pray! Pray!  And don't grow weary of praying.  Jesus is saying, ‘Take heart. Don’t give up praying just because the times are hard.  Just keep on praying’.

 

‘Keep on praying!’ Why? Because of the relationship that we have with our Father. 

 

Keep on praying because He is good and gracious and kind.

 

Keep on praying even if the whole situation looks hopeless in our eyes.

 

Keep on praying because He loves us and is waiting to answer our prayers in a way that will be for our benefit.

 

Keep on praying because we have a God who is willing and waiting to hear from us, and who wants to apply His loving answer to every request we bring to Him.

 

Sometimes we may doubt, we may be angry, we may be upset, we may question “why?” but know that He is always ready to listen. He loves you!  So pray, and do not lose heart.

 

(Portions taken from an article by Pastor Vince Gerhardy)

Join the Email Prayer Team! It’s easy.  Here’s how:

 

Contact Lora Stafura in the church office at  lstafura@bakerstownumc.org  or

Cathy Dambach hwdambach@consolidated.net, or Heather Brown hlrdab@hotmail.com and the monthly prayer list will be emailed to you. Occasionally we also have weekly urgent requests that are sent out as well. Thank you!

 

 “Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together.”  

- Charles G. Finney