Earlier this week Dawson took a small step toward manhood and learned to ride his bike without training wheels. To be honest, I envisioned scrapes, bruises, and possibly even broken bones throughout the process but I’m proud to say he didn’t fall one time and is doing great! Throughout the process, I continued to encourage Dawson to simply keep pedaling as he would get frightened at times when trying to turn.  He didn’t understand that without the power and speed of the bike, turning would be impossible. Fortunately, he now has it all figured out and our screams have changed from “keep pedaling” to “slow down!”

Just as I encouraged Dawson to just keep on pedaling,  I want to encourage you to keep on praying! Many times we get discouraged when our prayers seemingly go unanswered and if we’re not careful, we almost begin to doubt the power of prayer. Some of you have been praying for lost family members for years and are still waiting on the Lord to save them. Some of you have found yourself in a dark valley as a result of death, or a broken marriage and you have begun to feel as though God is a million miles away. If this is you, let me encourage you to do one thing – keep praying!

In Luke 18, you’ll find the parable of the persistent prayer. You will find a widow who is being harassed by someone who she calls her “adversary” and her plea to a judge for vengeance or justice. We know that Jesus often used parables to make a point or in order to get the attention of his listeners and this parable is no different. You see, the widow can be viewed as a representation of us in that we are essentially helpless, hopeless, and powerless without Christ. The adversary that is mentioned in verse 3 represents Satan, as we know he is our greatest adversary and seeks to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8).

In this particular parable, the widow’s adversary has apparently caused her much distress and she is seen begging for the judge in this passage to resolve the issue. Perhaps the widow’s adversary was a family member or someone she knew wanting a portion of her deceased husband’s estate and knew that she was at her most vulnerable state at this time. We can only speculate on who this adversary was or what they wanted, but the point is this: Much like the widow’s adversary, Satan often comes at us when we’re at our lowest point. After we’ve been praying and praying for God to answer prayers, Satan will come to us and whisper “there’s no use” or “you’re wasting your time.”

As you can see, it appears as though the widow here in the passage has everything going against her. If there was an obstacle to be found you could bet that she would find it. To top it all off, the judge that she was pleading to was not a fair or righteous judge. In fact, verse 2 tells us that this judge did not fear God nor did he respect anyone else. So after losing her husband, she now has someone harassing her, and the only one that can help her is a wicked, unrighteous judge who could care less about her or her situation. Still think you got it bad?

The judge here in this passage represents God in one big way. The judge here in the passage had the authority, power and the ability to do whatever he desired to do. Just like this judge here in the passage, our heavenly Father has the ultimate authority, power, and ability to do whatever He so desires to do! The widow was desperate for the judge to intervene on her behalf as she was out of options. So what did she do? She continued to ask, to beg, to cry out to the judge because she knew if he didn’t come through, she was out of luck…it was game over!

Do you find yourself much like the widow here in this passage? Maybe you’ve been dealt a bad hand and all you can see are obstacles in the way. Perhaps some of you have reached the point where you’re just about to give up and throw in the towel. Maybe you’ve prayed once or twice, maybe even a hundred times and still no answer. May I encourage you to consider the widow’s persistence? Just like the widow here in the passage, we must be desperate in our prayer life! You may be one prayer away from the ultimate judge, our heavenly Father, answering that very prayer! If God answered all our prayers when we asked Him, we wouldn’t enjoy the gift the way He intends us to enjoy it. He wants us to show faith and determination in our prayer life. In verse 1 of the text, we’re commanded to always pray and not faint. Don’t give up! Just keep praying!

In closing, in verse 8 the Lord asks this question: “When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” May we be those who He finds faithful in prayer when He comes to claim His bride! There is power in prayer! Waiting on the Lord is hard, but we must not faint! I can’t wait to see what the Lord is going to do in the days ahead as I’m praying and believing Him for some BIG things!

Praying for you always,
Dustin