Prayer Call: Persistent Faith

Hello BFB!

This is a day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Today's scripture focus: “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” -‭‭Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Persistent faith. When you study this parable and the parables surrounding it, Jesus is telling this parable to the disciples in the teaching of the coming of God's kingdom. It was a warning to them to not fall asleep while waiting. He wanted them to have a reminder to not give up while they were hoping and waiting for the kingdom to come. It was a command for them to keep praying even when it looked like nothing was changing. Because persistent faith doesn't faint or give up; it continues to fight. Sometimes the battle is not about what we're praying for but it's the battle to keep on praying. To be persistent. To not give up.

This is what we see in Luke 18. Persistence. We meet a nameless widow. No power, no prestige. No husband, no protection. No influence. But despite all that she does not have, she has one thing that speaks volumes. She refuses to quit and refuses to be silent. She has persistent faith. This woman comes to a judge repeatedly, time and time again. Her mind is made up that she is not going to take no for an answer. Every time she steps into the court, she brings the same petition to the judge. She asks over and over and over to be granted justice. What's so significant about her repeated requests? Jesus tells us that this judge does not fear God and does not care for the people. He doesn't care about her and her request. He's the type of person that can listen to all of your pain and struggles and then just shrug their shoulders like nothing bothers them.
 
But yet, she's persistent. The judge eventually wears down. Now if an unjust judge can be moved by her persistence and consistency, how much more will a just God, like the God we serve, respond to a faith that won't quit? That's one of the truths of this parable: If an unjust judge can be moved by consistency, our Father in Heaven will respond to a faith that just won't give up. If we're honest with ourselves, sometimes it's not the sin that is shutting us down - it's spiritual burnout. We've been doing all of the right things - praying, serving, believing, waiting - but nothing is changing. The weight of waiting can wear us down and wear us out. Jesus told this parable because He knew that as faithful believers there would be times when we would get tired. Times when even the prayer warriors would want to give up and give in. Jesus is reminding us and encouraging us to not let spiritual burnout or spiritual fatigue make us quit this spiritual fight. Reminding us to not walk away from what God has assigned to us because sometimes our soul feels tired.
 
Instead, like the persistent widow, we need to bring our burnout to the one who can renew our strength. Like the scene from The Color Purple, Miss Celie is tired and worn out from the abuse she's experienced. From the terrible hand that life has dealt her. She's in the back of the car and she's leaving and she yells out, "I may be poor. I may be black. I may even be ugly. But dear God, I'm here!" That's not just survival. That's persistent faith. She has refused to give up. Just like Celie, this widow is determined. She kept showing up, she kept praying, she did not let life silence her. When so much happens in our lives and around us, it can make us want to be silent. It can cause us to feel burnt out. But like Celie and like the widow, we must stand and let it be known - I'm still here.

Jesus honors that kind of resilience. He wasn't just teaching us to pray, He was teaching us how not to faint. It's easy to faint, give up when you've been praying and nothing changes. It's easy to faint when you feel like heaven is silent. It's easy to faint when those who once supported you go missing. But Jesus explains to us the importance of not giving up. Don't let the silence make you go missing. Don't let the disappointment make you disconnect from God. In the kingdom faith is not just about what you believe; it's about what you keep doing when nothing has happened yet. This is what our persistent faith looks like. The blockbuster truth: In the kingdom, God honors the kind of faith that just won't quit.
 
As we go through this week I challenge us to pray again. Believe again. Show up again. Speak up again. Knock on the door again. Trust again. To love again. Because in reality, this parable teaches us to have persistent faith because we are actually closer than it seems. This week, revisit a closed door. Think about where you may have given up too soon and go back and try again. Pick up where you left off. God may move where you stopped knocking. Encourage someone else this week - call or text a friend or loved one - and remind them that they can keep praying, praising because they are closer than it seems. Pick a prayer and press it this week. Look at something that you want to accomplish or let go. Choose one thing to keep lifting up prayer each day this week. Be persistent. It's not because God did not hear your prayer, but God wants to see your faith.

When we don't give up, when we are persistent, we show God through our actions that we believe we are closer than where we think.