Just Keep On Praying – Paul Chappell

The following devotional, by Br Paul Chappell, was a blessing to me this morning so I thought I would share it – 

 Friday, Aug 7, 2015

“And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?”

Luke 18:4–7
When Jesus wanted to highlight the vital importance of prayer, He did so with a parable of a widow seeking justice from a judge who wasn’t at all interested in her case. Yet in her desperation, she kept coming and asking for help. Eventually the judge was worn down by her persistence in asking, and granted her request. This seems like an odd choice for an illustration of prayer. God is perfectly just in everything He does and He loves and cares for each of His children. But we have to remember the point of the parable. “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;” (Luke 18:1). Jesus used this parable primarily to tell us what happens if we stop praying—we faint.
There are prayers that require persistent, repeated praying before the answer comes. The Old Testament tells us that Daniel prayed for twenty-one days for an interpretation of a vision he had received. It was only later that he learned that the delay was because of a spiritual battle of which he knew nothing. There are times when we do not feel like our prayer will be answered, but unless God closes a door as He did when Paul requested the removal of his thorn in the flesh, we should continue to pray faithfully until the answer comes. Continuing to pray demonstrates that we have not lost our faith in God and keeps us from giving up.
Today’s Growth Principle: 
Many times we do not receive what we ask from God because we give up before He answers.