Have you prayed for something and it seems that God did not hear your prayers? Many of us have prayers that have went unanswered and we felt that God completely ignored us or did not hear our prayers. Having unanswered prayers make us want to quit praying, because we don’t see the fruits of our labor. We might stop praying for certain things or don’t pray as often. We can also get frustrated when our prayers go unanswered. For instance, we pray for family and friends to be saved, but we don’t see any change in their lives. Then we get tired of praying for them, because their lives have not changed and feel praying is not giving us the desired effect we wanted. I don’t know about you, but I want all my friends and family to be saved and I want them to love God as much as I love him. We may pray for marriage restoration, healing, deliverance from addictions to name a few. Unanswered prayers can cause us to become discouraged and doubtful. This can cause us to stop praying, but we must remember God’s ways are not our ways. His word reminds us that just because we don’t see a harvest from our prayers, it does not mean God did not hear them.
We live in a society that wants results quickly and we don’t like waiting. I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to wait for God to step in and intervene on my behalf. I do not like to deal with any issues or problems and when they come I want them to be over quickly. Usually, God does not work that way, he sometimes allows us to experience things to change us and to build our characters. Remember we are supposed to be striving each day to be more like Jesus. If we never had any problems, we would not know that God can solve them. I have learned to pray to God about my problems, get out the way and let him work, do what he tells me to do and just praise him until my breakthrough comes.
In Luke 18:1, Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them they should always pray and not give up. Jesus knew there would come a time when his disciples would want to quit praying. He wanted to encourage them to keep on praying despite of the circumstances they find themselves in. This is what we should do also. Despite the circumstances we may find ourselves in we should always pray. God’s word tells us that in this life we will have some trouble, but we cannot let this stop us from living. We must keep moving and persevere in prayer, even when it feels like we are talking to the wall. We must put our faith and trust in God and believe he is working everything out for our good.
Jesus told the disciples the parable about the persistent widow, who would not take no for an answer. Each day she went to the judge asking him to give her justice and legal protection. The judge kept telling her no every time she asked him to help her. This was a judge who did not fear God and he had no respect for anyone (Luke 18:2). He really did not care about getting her justice, but her persistence caused him to help her. He did not help her because it was the right thing to do, he helped her because he was tired of her bothering him. In Luke 18:4-5 he says to himself, “Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will give her justice and legal protection; otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.” Just like the widow we need to persevere and don’t take no for an answer. We must pray and keep on praying. If the answer is no, know God loves us and he wants the best for us. If an unjust judge would grant the widow her request because of her persistence, how much more will our loving father God give us if we are persistent in prayer.
The next time you get on your knees to pray believe that God hears your cries, your pleas and he will work everything out for your good. Don’t stop praying for your friends and family’s salvation. Don’t stop praying for healing, deliverance, marriages, relationships, government, community, and church ministries. Don’t stop praying until God answers your prayers. Be persistent until your breakthrough comes.
LSW
Linda Sharp-Williams 