Always Pray & Never Give Up - episode # 7 - Luke 18:1

The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt

Hey, hello there. Welcome to this episode of The Prayer Podcast. I’m thankful that you are here today and super excited about today’s show because the Bible verse that I’ll be referencing is so good when it comes to our praying. And I am ready to pray this verse over you at the end of today’s show. Ready? Alright, let’s get going.

Summer 2023 Prayer Retreat - Tickets Just $7

Always. Never.

These are the two words we are kicking around today as we look at the New Testament and read a bit about how Jesus spoke to His disciples on the subject of prayer.

Luke 18:1 (NLT)

One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.

Boy, this verse, in fact this whole section on prayer in Luke 18, has been life changing for me. Studying it and really challenging myself as to whether or not I fully believe what Jesus had to say about prayer, that has been one of the best things I’ve done to pray better. By better, I mean boldly basing my prayer requests on exactly what the Bible teaches.

Luke 18 really has the potential to be transformational if we will read it and heed it. Faith is not just some warm fuzzy feeling. It is solid, not just floating out there in the ether somewhere. It’s a real thing. And when we apply the kind of faith we see in the parable on prayer that Jesus told His disciples in Luke 18, the way we pray changes.

For sure I will be talking more about this passage on the show, because there is so much here and we don’t want to miss any of what the Lord has for us, right?

One day Jesus told His disciples a story, a parable, to show that they should ALWAYS pray and NEVER give up.

When is the last time you gave up on something? Did February roll around and you gave up on going to the gym every week or on a new diet plan, maybe? Did you give up on cutting down on the time you spend watching Netflix or daily Bible reading? Did you give up on praying for some really important, big, stressful, whopper of a need because you were not seeing any results? You told that mountain to move and it stayed put.

Anybody else ever experience this? And I’m not here to hand out pat answers that bring zero comfort and don’t really help. I’d much rather be totally transparent and get real and stay real because I’d be lying if I told you I’ve never had that experience. I sure have!

And it makes returning to prayer with faith, especially for that very thing that didn’t get an answer from the praying, it makes it hard to get back in the saddle and try again.

I’m acknowledging how hard this is.

And I’m admitting that I don’t have all the answers, I can’t give you some special formula that will put an end to all those unanswered prayers. And most importantly, I cannot and do not ever want to try and be in the place of God by explaining away what isn’t my job to explain.

Life is hard. Life as a Christian is hard. Some of us didn’t really understand that. We did not know how hard it was going to be. Did you expect this whole thing to be easier? I kinda did.

But it isn’t easier. And it isn’t biblical to expect it to be easier, per se. It is biblical to expect to have help in our time of need, to have peace that surpasses all understanding no matter what we are facing, it is biblical to pray and obtain help, actual real world help, and mercy at our point of need. All of those are true.

And God, He does not need anyone to defend Him. He is not worried about His reputation, ya know what I mean? He is so secure in who He is, the God of the universe, the King of kings, the One before whom every knee is going to bow and every tongue will confess Him as Lord of all. Jesus, in the Garden, before going to the cross, when the Roman soldiers came to arrest Him, at the words He spoke, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. John 18:6, I believe.

This is the God to whom we pray as those who know the Lord as our Savior.

I don’t need to defend Him or over-explain why prayers have not been answered. It’s so far above my pay grade, and I don’t want to go there and end up in a place bordering on blasphemy, right?

So what I do when I have those prayers that need an answer and have not been answered is choose one of two things: stop praying, sort of put the brakes on praying for hard stuff and just keep it general, broad, safe when I pray. Or go back to what the Bible specifically says about prayer.

That’s it for me, just those two options.

Sometimes it’s easy to know what’s going on, like one honest heart check and I know I want something selfishly or it’s not gonna be good for me, I won’t glorify the Lord the way I ought to, sometimes my request is not right. But that’s not what I’m referencing here.

This is about those things I pray for and they are clearly in the will of God, based on what’s in His book, the Bible, and that is tough stuff.

What about you?

Are you willing today, in light of any hard prayer needs that didn’t get an answer, are you willing to go with me back to the Bible and just see what it says? And then to choose to have faith once more? Yet again, to believe when you stand praying?

Jesus wants us to ALWAYS pray and to NEVER give up.

At all times. Invariably. Constantly. Continually. In any event.

Always pray.

Never give up. No, not ever. On no occasion. Not at all. In no way. Absolutely not.Not at any time.

Never give up as we keep on praying

In the Amplified, Luke 18:1 reads:

Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart.

I’m so thankful that those words, not give up and lose heart, are penned here.

That’s so honest, so raw, so real. Losing heart in our praying is very much a possibility.

And Jesus addressed it, because He knew that even as we pray for our needs and for the needs of others, one big need we would have would be to not lose heart and give up. We need to maintain hope. It’s a need! We need to always keep praying. Prayer changes things. Lives are impacted as we pray. Giving up is detrimental.

Don’t give up.

Don’t lose heart.

Maintain hope.

Even when it’s a long game, this particular prayer need, even then, please do not stop praying. He is hearing you. And if you need to make an adjustment in your asking, like something needs to be moved around in your praying so that you are in line with His will, He can reveal that to you. If you are willing to hear Him, to listen and to obey as He leads you, God can make sure you know what He wants you to know. So don’t spend much time worrying about that.

We’re going to be looking at this parable more, and in the next episode we’ll step on over the the psalms for our prayer verse, and then we will come back to Luke 18 and pray through this passage, bit by bit, in increments that are short enough to fit into one episode of the show at a time.

But for right now, I’m going to pray for you based on this one verse. And I really just want to leave you with the encouraging reminder that Jesus Himself wants you to always pray and to never give up and lose heart.

Father, I want to lift before You today the one who is listening and who has had a real fight for their faith, because some prayers have gone so long unanswered.

Lord, would You comfort them, embolden them, to come again to You with that prayer need. Speak to them if they ought to change what they are asking for. Speak to them if they simply need to continue in prayer, always praying, not giving up.

Do not let them lose heart. Give them hope. Flood them with Your peace. Pour out Your mercy and grace. Sustain them. Hear them, Lord. Move and act and answer. Show us Your glory.

We do want to honor You above all else, and we want to be among those who point toward You, who have hope to offer those around us who are hurting and in need. May we be able and willing vessels that You utilize for Your Kingdom purposes.

Help us to share more of Your love with others, and Lord, one way we can be encouraged to live out Your love is when You answer us when we pray.

May it be said of us, of each one hearing my voice right now, may it be said of them that they always pray and they never, ever give up and stop praying.

Thank You for hearing my prayer for them today. Answer as soon as You can, Lord. In Jesus name I ask all of this.

Amen.

Well, that’s it for today’s show. Let’s look at a prayer verse from the book of psalms next time.

Also, I do have a podcast about God’s promises called The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, it’s a play on my last name, Burt, and you are welcome to check that out.

And, one last thing, I do have a freebie for you, it’s a 21 day prayer guide, not too in-depth, and I’ll add that link in the show notes and I’d like to formally invite you to participate in the Summer 2023 Online Prayer Retreat. It will take place in July, but you can watch the content, the videos, anytime you want, so no worries about missing anything. And also, you could really just put in earbuds and listen to the content. The price is $7. And I’d love for you to join us for that.

Until next time, be blessed and keep on praying, my friend.

Bye bye