Discouragement is to be expected, but not accepted. The solution is not to stop praying, but rather to press on in prayer until a response from God is received.
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Scripture
Luke 18:1
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
Observation
Prayer is powerful. Prayer is effective. Prayer is modeled by Jesus, and prayer is taught and commanded for his followers. Yet prayer can also lead to discouragement! What a surprisingly blunt acknowledgement we see in this verse: discouragement is to be expected, but not accepted. The solution is not to stop praying, but rather to press on in prayer until a response from God is received.
Application
I’ve faced discouragement in prayer–but I never noticed before how directly Jesus dealt with this subject. More often than not, my discouragement in prayer results from me not getting what I want, when I want, the way I want it.
The following parable in this chapter reminds me that there is power in prayer–not to merely get what I want, but rather to receive what I need from God in the right way, at the right time.
This week I choose to press on in prayer and to not let my heart become discouraged.
Prayer
God, thank you for this reminder about the power of prayer! Help me to trust your heart and your timing, so that I would never lose heart but rather trust you each day.
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