Never Give Up!

Sometimes I feel like giving up.   Especially when it comes to prayer.  Why pray?   Does it really make a difference?   I pray for things to change ... in that of my family, for my friends, for the lost, for the world.   But things don't change.   Answers don't come.   Or at least, not in the way I hoped.   Prayer is not easy.  So I feel like giving up.   That's how I feel!

But then I read what Luke tells us about Jesus -- that he told his followers a story, a parable, "to show them that they should always pray and not give up." (Luke 18:1)  The story Jesus told is about a persistent widow who keeps bothering the local judge.  This judge seemed ruthless and without a moral compass.   "He neither feared God or cared about people." (v.2)   This widow kept bothering the judge, coming back time and time again to plead for justice against her adversary.  She would not give up!   And in the end the judge relented!   So too, says Jesus, God will make things right for those who cry out to him day and night.   After telling this story Jesus question whether or not we who follow him will have that kind of faith -- a faith that will never give up praying, crying out to God to make things right!

Jesus calls us to pray always and never give up. That is why I persist in prayer -- for myself, my family, my friends, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, my neighbours, and our world.   As churches we are urged to make prayer a priority, to call upon God for an outpouring of his Spirit, that we will be filled with prayerful and sacrificial compassion for the lost in all the world.  This is our number one task.  Keep praying for the lost.   Never give up.   I recently read about the Christian evangelist George Mueller who prayed daily for five unsaved friends.   One of them came to Christ after five years; two more were coverted after fifteen years.  The fourth was saved after thirty-five years of prayer, and the fifth became a child of God just after Mueller's death.   Mueller is a good example of someone who never gave up praying for the lost.

And so I keep praying.  Some years ago I was asked to visit a little boy named David, our friends' nephew, who had a tragic fall and was now in the hospital on life support.   His brain had completely shut down, and the medical staff were preparing the family for his death.   When I visited his grieving family, they asked me if I would go with them and pray with David, that he would be healed.  I did not know what God's plan was for this little boy, but I did know that God desires to hear what is on our hearts.   And so with these parents I sat beside David's bed, laid my hands on him, and prayed that God would heal him -- completely.  Two days later I arrived early at the hospital to see how the family was doing, to pray with them and David again.   On my arrival I discoverd that David was no longer in his room, and I feared the worst for this family.   But I was told that David had been moved to a regular ward.  He was still sleeping when I arrived in his room.   He no longer was on life support.  I waited till David woke up.   When he saw me he said, "I know who you are!  You are the man who prayed for me."   What was so shocking was that David and I had never met before.  And he was completely healed!   Never give up!

I prayed for years that my father would come to the knowledge of God's love and grace, and that I would see fruit of that in his life toward me and others.   I kept praying for 35 years before I finally began to see the first glimmers of a changed life.   And only this year, about a week after my dad's death, through a note he left for me did I receive assurance that my prayers were not in vain.    Never give up.

For the past decade my wife and I kept praying for our neighbours that they will come to know Christ, and only this past Easter Sunday did one of our neighbours finally accept our invitation to come to church with us.   And she heard the wonderful news of the salvation we have in Christ.   Never give up.

And so I will never give up praying -- praying for my children who have wandered away from the truth, that they will come to trust and obey Jesus.   I keep praying for my neighbours that they will be transformed by the gospel.  I keep praying for the lost in our society that they come to know Jesus and be part of his growing family.   I keep praying our church and the scores of pastors and church leaders that I have contact with, that we will be salt and light in this world, that our churches' lamps will shine so brightly that the lost will see our good deeds and glorify God in heaven with us (Matthew 5:13-16).

Is there something that you used to pray for that you have stopped praying for?   Is there someone you know who is lost and needs to find their way to God?   Start praying!   Again!   And again!   See your prayers moving you a little closer to receiving an answer.    Keep praying.  Never give up!