Never Give Up!

During the most bleak days of WW II, the great British statesman Winston Churchill said, "Never! Never! NEVER! NEVER GIVE UP!" That is excellent advice for us as Christians to appropriate to our lives and to our prayers.

Jesus said pretty much the same thing in His parable of the unjust judge. He told the story of a woman who had a legitimate grievance. She beseeched the judge in the behalf of her case, but he ignored her. The woman, however, was relentless in her pursuit of justice...she implored the judge continually to assess her case and to make a determination in her behalf.

The Lord continued His parable to say that ultimately, because of her persistence, the unjust judge capitulated in her behalf. His point was that if a judge who was neither concerned for her nor concerned for upholding the law righteously was moved because of her persistence, how much more would our loving and powerful God be moved in our behalf if we will but persist in reaching out to Him in prayer and in faith! (See Luke 18:1-8.)

The word further admonishes that we be not double minded or unbelieving in our prayers, James 1:8, for if we "are driven like the waves of the sea and tossed," James 1:6, we "need not think we shall receive anything from the Lord."

His point seems to be that if we don't trust Him to hear and answer, in spite of how things may look, of how un-attuned to our supplication He may seem to be, that He has no obligation to reward us. But if we believe, if we are "steadfast in faith, nothing wavering," I Corinthians 15:58, He will answer our prayers in due time.

Can we then "walk by faith, not by sight" II Corinthians 5:7, when we pray? Can we hold fast to His promises even if we don't see the promise? Can we trust Him BEFORE the answer comes--so we can be sure to see it come?

YES! We can!