THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

166PERSISTENCE IN PRAYERThe Parable of the Persistent WidowLuke 18:1-8“When we work, we work; when we pray, God works.”--Anonymous“Continuous effort-not strength or intelligence-is the key to unlocking ourpotential.” 1--Winston ChurchillIn The Parable of the Persistent Widow, Jesus makes the point that we are to always prayand clearly emphasizes the necessity of dogged persistence.WE ARE TO ALWAYS PRAY (18:1)Notice that Luke introduces this parable by pointing to the reason for it:“Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should alwayspray and not give up” (v. 1).Jesus was clear about the priority of prayer:“My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”(Mt 21:13; Mk 11:17; see also Isa 56:7)The word “should” indicates that persistence is not just nice or a duty, but a necessity toeffective prayer. The word “always” implies that we should pray continually in spite of thetemptation to give up because of what we consider delayed answers.It should be obvious to us all why we should and need to spend time in prayer on a dailybasis. As human beings we have a lot of needs. The following is a list: