In our study of the LC #185 (How are we to pray?), we learned, "We are to pray…with understanding, faith, sincerity, fervency, love, and perseverance, …" I referred to this passage and today I want to unpack what it teaches about prayer. • Maybe it was sickness, something that made you afraid, your pricked conscience, or you simply felt you should pray more— so you start to pray — but do you persevere? "Let it then be graven deeply in our minds, that it is far more easy to begin a habit of prayer than it is to keep it up." (JC Ryle) Exercising, dieting, projects… all began but some never finished. Statistically, almost everyone has prayed but who perseveres in it? I. Jesus ENCOURAGES you to persevere in prayer (v. 1). II. Jesus ASSURES you that God will hear your righteous prayers (vv. 6, 7). III. Jesus CHALLENGES you to persevere in the face of prayerlessness and unbelief in the world (v. 8). CONCLUSION 1. Are you praying? 2. Ask yourself why you gave up praying for certain things? Is it for the right reason or is it unbelief and fatigue? [Don't ever have to give up praying for unbelievers.] Have you lost heart? 3. Is there a persistence in your praying like this widow? Or are you detached, indifferent, and uninterested? 4. Whatever the outcome immediately, have those times of persistent praying brought you relief in the Lord even if you did not get the answer yet? There is something refreshing just being in God's presence as you cry out to Him — good for your soul and it draws you near to fellowship with Him!
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Dr. Mark Herzer has been the pastor of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church (P.C.A.) in Warminster, PA since 1997. Before this, he was ordained to labor as an Assistant Pastor of Korean United Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia (1992-1995). He received his M.A.R. and Ph. D....
