“One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”-Luke 18:1
“You should just give it up!” Most of the time, I wouldn’t recommend giving up on something. But there are things in life that we should give up. What am I talking about? Well, for example, we should give up bad habits. They aren’t helpful! We should give up worrying. It doesn’t do any good! We should certainly give up on any bitterness we carry, not to mention jealousy, envy, hate, cynicism, a grudge…there are actually plenty of these kinds of things that we should give up. But something Jesus never wants us to give up on is praying!
One thing the disciples often witnessed in their time around Jesus was that He prayed a lot. Jesus prayed often! In Luke 5:16 we read: “But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” Jesus clearly displayed in His own life just how significant prayer is. He also taught the disciples about prayer a variety of times. One example is found in Luke 18. Let’s reread Luke 18:1 which says: “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.” I would encourage you to read the rest of the story He told in Luke 18:2-8. What’s abundantly clear from this passage is that Jesus wanted to teach the disciples, and ultimately every Christ-follower to come, to pray and pray and pray, and never give up!
Since Jesus made it so transparent that prayer is a major part of our walk with God, let’s take His word to heart. We should pray and not stop! He wants us to talk to Him about everything. We are to often cry out to Him in praise! Asking for His help moment by moment should be a given. Listening to God in prayer and through prayerfully reading the Bible is essential. Praying for our families, friends, neighbors, strangers, and all people is an expectation for every one of us as Christ followers (1 Timothy 2:1-3). And truthfully, what a joy and privilege! Because of what Christ has done we are to “…come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16). So may we remember and be spurred on to pray and never give up!
Godspeed, friends!
-Scott