Pray Until the Answer Comes . . . Never Give Up!

"And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily." (Luke 18:7-8 NKJ)

Once upon a time there was a judge who didn't fear anyone, neither God nor human. And in his city there lived a widow who had a legal grievance against another citizen of that city. So, the widow went to  court and petitioned this judge for justice.

But the judge wouldn't hear her case. She had no money. She had no lawyer. She had no influence. She had no leverage in her favor, so the judge ignored her case for a long while. But the widow wouldn't give up. The only thing she had in her arsenal was persistence, and she used it effectively. She kept returning to the court with her plea for justice.

Finally, it occurred to the judge that this widow wasn't going to drop her case. He concluded that her determined pursuit for personal justice was only going to cause him grief and frustration. He discussed it with his attendants: "This widow is going to weary me to death. If I don't resolve her case she will continually trouble me with it. I will resolve her case so I can have peace again."

In WWII, when the enemy was threatening Britain's borders, Prime Minister Churchill sent a public signal to both the enemy and the British people. "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender . . ." (excerpt from Churchill's speech in Parliament, June 4, 1940).

Determination and persistence in prayer may be our only course of action, but they are powerful and effective weapons.

Dear Father, thank you for hearing and answering our prayers. Empower us with persistence that we may continually bring our petitions to you. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Always pray! Never give up!