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“Would you please pray?”
I’ve been thinking back over the past week, month, and beyond. More and more, I find myself asking friends, “Would you please pray?” I feel I sound like a broken record. It would do me well just to put it on a t-shirt since I say it so often.
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“Would You Please Pray?”
Pray for my kids.
Pray for this struggle or that.
Pray for Mark.
Pray for the ministry.
Pray for this person to know Christ.
Pray for this unexpected struggle.
Pray for this unexpected struggle.
Pray for this unexpected struggle.
Every. Single. Day.
I find myself almost daily asking for friends to join me in prayer for a present unexpected need. A crisis I didn’t see coming. And I have to be honest. I wonder if they tire of me always asking for them to pray with me over these many needs. I get tired of myself.
When I sat down in my quiet time chair this morning, I thought about yesterday’s events, and I couldn’t escape the feeling that I was like a babbling brook:
“God, help here!”
“God, please meet this need.”
“God, provide.”
“Friend, can you pray with me about this?”
“Friend, please pray.”
“Friend, I am facing an unexpected struggle. Will you pray?”
I whispered to God before ever cracking my Bible or a book and said, “God, all these requests. Is it too much? Should I just be lifting the MOST IMPORTANT needs? Is all this praying even making a difference?”
Immediately a phrase from the Scriptures came to mind.
“pray and not faint.”
I said it over and over in my head trying to recall how the rest of the verse went.
Where was that verse? I looked it up.
Luke 18:1 ESV – “And he (Jesus) told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not faint (lose heart).”
The parable was about the persistent widow. She went before an unrighteous judge who feared neither God nor man to plead her case continually. She persisted so much so that the judge granted her request simply because of her persistence.
The point of the story was that if an unjust judge would do this because of the woman’s persistence, “will not God give justice to his elect (children), who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.” (v 7)
“Tammy, don’t stop praying.”
- Even when you don’t feel it, keep praying.
- Even though you’ve already prayed for what seems like a million things big and small, keep asking.
- Even though the answer has not come, don’t give up.
I noticed three things about this widow’s prayers:
She pleaded in faith. She believed the judge could help her.
She pleaded persistently. She wouldn’t give up until the answer came.
She pleaded in desperation. She knew the judge was her only hope and had no plan “b.”
I spent time reflecting on the parable of the widow and jotted notes in my journal. One of the verses that came to mind was Matthew 7:7, “Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.” I scribbled it down.
Then I looked at the words of Jesus at the end of the parable. Luke 18:8b says, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
It was as if the Lord was asking me directly, “Will you have faith? Will you persist? Will you keep on asking?”
My heart was so encouraged!
“Keep at it, Tammy! Don’t stop praying!
Yes, Lord! I will keep on praying in faith in matters big and small, even when it seems I’m praying all day long.
My heart was encouraged! But then, God did something extra special to strengthen my heart. As I finished my quiet time, I called a friend who has been waiting on God in persistent, desperate prayer for years now with no clear answer yet. I wanted to tell her how God encouraged me and to share this encouragement with her. I told her I will continue to call on God with her and not give up. While I was talking, I received a drop-down notification on my phone with the verse of the day. Here it is!
MATTHEW 7:7 – Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Both our hearts were encouraged as I read the verse aloud and told her I’d already written that very verse in my journal earlier that morning!
Friend, are you desperate for God to work? Do you have faith that He can and will? Will you keep asking and not give up? It is His will for you to pray this way. He delights in and honors the faithful, persistent desperate prayers of His children. Don’t Stop Praying!
