heaven's tree book club

Pray On

God moments are when there is the timeliness of a message or word of encouragement that comes by e-mail, phone, or in person. This morning’s devotional from ODB was one of those moments when God spoke right directly to my heart. It commented on a text that had been mentioned in the Sittser text, Luke 18, the parable of the persistent widow. Jesus use this parable to instruct us to pray and not lose heart. That is the tendency we face when praying for something for a long time and when doubt creeps in our minds. The author of the devotional had no idea I am going through the Sittser text or that I am really wrestling with this problem of unanswered prayer. God knows. In His knowing, God shows that He cares. This doesn’t make the problem go away, but today I am reminded of the God who is there and the God who is not silent. I am always so touched and encouraged when God speaks in such a timely way and that He knows the details of my life.

 

 

Unanswered June 10, 2012

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Luke 18:1-8

[Jesus] spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. —Luke 18:1

One of my biggest struggles is unanswered prayer. Maybe you can relate. You ask God to rescue a friend from addiction, to grant salvation to a loved one, to heal a sick child, to mend a relationship. All these things you think must be God’s will. For years you pray. But you hear nothing back from Him and you see no results.

You remind the Lord that He’s powerful. That your request is a good thing. You plead. You wait. You doubt—maybe He doesn’t hear you, or maybe He isn’t so powerful after all. You quit asking—for days or months. You feel guilty about doubting. You remember that God wants you to take your needs to Him, and you tell Him your requests again.

We may sometimes feel we’re like the persistent widow in Jesus’ parable recorded in Luke 18. She keeps coming to the judge, badgering him and trying to wear him down so he’ll give in. But we know that God is kinder and more powerful than the judge in the parable. We trust Him, for He is good and wise and sovereign. We remember that Jesus said we “always ought to pray and not lose heart” (v.1).

So we ask Him, “Summon Your power, O God; show us Your strength, O God, as You have done before” (Ps. 68:28 NIV). And then we trust Him . . . and wait. —Anne Cetas

Pray on, then, child of God, pray on;

This is your duty and your task.

To God the answering belongs;

Yours is the simpler part—to ask. —Chisholm