DON’T EVEN GO THERE

READING: LUKE 18:1-8

Verse 1: “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”

This verse sets a clear expectation for the people of God. To lose heart means to become discouraged. Therefore, the biblical lesson in the verse is that prayer prevents discouragement. Christians are usually quite faithful to employ prayer as a cry for help after discouragement or other issues have set in. That’s like closing the gate after the horse is gone. Instead we ought to pray in order to prevent losing heart or becoming discouraged. To that someone might say, “That’s great, but how do I know when I’m going to be discouraged so that I can pray in advance to prevent it?” An effective answer to that question is in this same verse of scripture. It tells us that we always ought to pray and not lose heart. That response is reinforced in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 where the Bible says to “pray without ceasing”. So Luke 18:1 turns out to be an affirmation to us that constant prayer is rewarding. Through continual prayer we are able to avoid and have victory over discouragement. That’s a thought – about God’s Word.

RESPONSE

1. Are your prayers more frequently proactive or more frequently reactive?

2. What do you expect your prayers to accomplish?