Have You Become Obnoxious With Your Prayers Yet?

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Luke 18:1-2 (NKJV)

In the parable of the unjust judge our Lord is teaching us the importance of persistence in prayer. Using the parable to drive home His point, Jesus describes a judge who though he is not godly, yet will give the woman justice because she is wearying him with her persistence.

Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? Luke 18:3-7 (NKJV)

Often we pray about something once, or a few times, then go on our way without thinking much more about it. Yet our Lord stresses that we should be persistent until we get the outcome we are looking for. Sometimes God will say “no” to our prayers. At other times it simply takes awhile before everything falls into place for God to bring about the outcome we asked for. Yet again, there are times when we ask amiss, and God has something better or different in mind. We should always submit our prayers and their outcome to God’s will and sovereignty.

Nevertheless, we should be persistent to the point of obnoxiousness in our prayers to see them through, not because God is hard of hearing, but because persistence pays off in the end. Also keep in mind we are told in God’s word to be bold:

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)

Weak, wimpy, doubting, pathetic praying has no place in the life of a child of God. We must be persistent, bold, faith-filled, and trust that not only does God hear us, He will help us. We leave the outcome in His hands, but it is our job to ask and pray and see our prayers through until the end.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we call upon You today to hear our prayers and meet our needs. We boldly ask You to fulfill Your promises to us and take care of us as Your children. Amen.

Karlton Douglas

Copyright 2016