History Makers And World ChangersSample

Jesus offered a compelling parable to teach us about the persistence of prayer. We often need helpful reminders about the importance of this most basic discipline of our faith.

If we were to ask the average Christian today, “Do you believe in the power of prayer?” the answer would likely be, “Yes. Absolutely.”

Then the next question we ask is, “Does the time you spend in prayer reflect that conviction?” In other words, does behavior match belief? For the majority of us, we aren’t as active as we want to be, or should be, in our prayer lives.

In this passage, Jesus was not comparing His Father to an unjust judge. But, as in many of His rabbinical teaching analogies, He was setting up a contrast: if an uncaring and unjust human judge will listen and respond to a persistent plea for justice, how much more will a loving and kind God take action? Jesus closes by saying that He wants to find in us the kind of relentless faith that this woman showed in regularly appearing at the judge’s door to ask for help.

The bottom line of this parable is that God wants to hear the concerns of the hearts of His children, anytime, day or night.

Watch today’s clip, as two soldiers at the Western Wall display the gamut of emotions, from the celebration of victory to the experience of extreme grief at the loss of friends. Here we see the power of prayer in all circumstances.

Be encouraged today to know:

• Prayer is simply a heart-to-heart conversation between you and your heavenly Father.
• Your Father always wants to hear what is on your heart.
• Your Father wants you to be specific with Him about what you feel and what you need.

For reasons higher than we can understand, Scripture is quite clear that God desires for us to tell Him what He, in His sovereignty, already knows about us. And that can only be for one reason—He desires a deep relationship with His children.

Today, allow a simple, heartfelt prayer to renew or refine your own relationship with your heavenly Father.