Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2
Sometimes I get frustrated with prayer.
I probably shouldn’t say that. But I’m just being honest. After all, we live in a society of instant gratification. So we get wearied when prayers seem to go unanswered. And our enemy fuels that weariness, feeding our flesh with thoughts of futility.
It’s hard to have faith when we lose hope.
I know you’ve been there. I certainly have. Maybe you’re there right now.
What situation in your life have you labeled hopeless? What have you stopped praying for because you didn’t see God move the way you’d hoped? What if you’ve given up right on the threshold of your blessing?
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2
Scripture calls us to pray without ceasing—to continue steadfastly—and to watch for the movement of God with thanksgiving. In other words, never lose hope.
I know. Easier said than done.
Especially when the road is long.
A few months ago, my husband and I met a wonderful Christian couple from Alabama while vacationing. God intersected our paths, and we quickly became friends.
Over the course of the week, we shared our stories and lots of laughter. But I also discovered that a deep pain lurked behind their friendly personalities and bright smiles. One of their daughters had suffered from illness for all of her twelve years.
At birth, because of a hole in her diaphragm, some of her organs weren’t where they should’ve been. Surgery corrected the problem, but it left its mark. Eating remained a constant struggle. Consuming food hurt, so she never wanted to eat. Every meal became a battle. At twelve years old, she weighed only 58 pounds.
Her parents shared stories of God’s faithfulness over the years. Through their hardship, they had been watchful, offering God praise for bringing their daughter through so much.
But they were weary. Twelve years is a long time to watch a loved one suffer. And to experience that suffering yourself as turmoil disrupts your days.
God stirred my heart to pray for our new friends and their daughter. And to rekindle their hope.
After we’d returned home, I was praying for this dear child I’d never met but loved in Jesus’ name. I felt the ache of this family’s twelve years of suffering. And Jesus reminded me of the woman with the issue of blood who had suffered twelve long years. Twelve years of seeking doctors only to worsen. Until one day, Jesus of Nazareth intersected her life and she touched the hem of His garment. Grace poured out from her Savior and healed what doctors could not.
I texted my new friend that April morning to encourage her that I was praying for her, and to share what Jesus had revealed about the woman with the issue of blood. The Spirit stirred my heart that it was time for fresh hope, and I told her I believed Jesus wanted her daughter living free from this burden over food. I would fight the battle with her in prayer.
Just last week I received incredible news from my friend. A new medication has stimulated her daughter’s appetite and she’s eating everything in sight! She has begun to enjoy her food and even tells her parents she’s hungry—something they’d never heard from her before. She’s also gained a few pounds.
Why do we keep praying, beloved? Because God moves through faith. And you never know when God’s perfect timing will intersect your circumstances—and you’ll receive your miracle. Even after 12 long years—or twenty, or thirty.
Which is why our enemy promotes hopelessness. We won’t believe without hope. And we’ll quit praying. So we miss our miracle.
And he [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:1-8
Beloved, your heavenly Father asks you to consider. If an unrighteous judge will give in to a persistent demand, will not the God who loves you move in answer to your perpetual prayers? He has staked His Word that persistent prayer will move Him, which is precisely why our enemy convinces us to lose hope.
To believe God for something when your circumstances consistently tell you something else requires tremendous faith. And faith is the catalyst that releases the grace of God to pour out salvation (Ephesians 2:8).
So Jesus asks you.
When He looks into your seemingly hopeless situation, will He find faith?