Never Give Up

Luke 18: 1

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

The word of the Lord to you today is that you should not give up. Jesus has sent you this word of encouragement so that you will know that God hears your pleas.

You can go to Luke, chapter 18 and read the parable but the essence is that this parable is about justice and prayer. Jesus is teaching us to be persistent in prayer. Wait a minute, you say, Mark 11: 24 tells us that when we pray we should believe we have already received our petition and it shall be granted us. Why then should I continue in prayer when the Father has already heard my request and granted it? Good question.

Some prayers actually take importuning, or persistence. Do you remember what happened to Daniel when sought the understanding of a vision he received? An angel came to him and said, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But, the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia,” (Daniel 10: 12 – 13).

There is so much rich content in that quote alone that we could be kept busy for days. The point for today, though, is that Daniel did receive his answers. He persisted until the angel appeared.

We are in a different situation today in that Jesus has the victory and we have the Holy Spirit. Notice, however,  that in today’s verse Jesus is the speaker as well as in Mark 11: 24. So what is going on here? You have probably prayed a prayer before and not received the evidence of your answer immediately. That does not logically mean, however, that your prayer was not answered the moment you prayed, hence Mark 11: 24. The angel told Daniel that his prayers were heard and answered the very first day. Therefore, we should never lose heart and, as Jesus encouraged, we should never give up. You can continue praying for the same thing over and over again, but we should pray according to Jesus’ direction from the book of Mark, believing that at the very first moment we prayed, God heard us and sent the answer on its way to us. We stand in Thanksgiving seeing from Daniel’s experience and from faith in Jesus’ words that our answer is in route. Give your angels continued authority in your life by speaking words of faith. You can always inquire of the Holy Spirit as to the need for any prayer other than thanksgiving and positive affirmations. He will lead you. It’s his job. Stand firm believing and never give up. You are not forsaken.