Persist in Praying

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled, Persist in Praying, was written by Karen Wong. Mila, a baking assistant, felt too helpless to defend herself when her supervisor accused her of pilfering some raisin bread. The unfounded assertion and corresponding salary deduction were just two of many wrongful actions from her supervisor. God, please help, Mila prayed each day.

It's so hard working under her, but I need this job. In Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells of a widow who also felt helpless and sought justice against her adversary. She turned to someone with the authority to resolve her case, a judge.

Despite knowing that the judge was unjust, she persisted in approaching him. The judge's eventual response is infinitely different from that of our Heavenly Father, who quickly responds with love and help. If persistence could cause an unjust judge to take up a widow's case, how much more can and will God, who is the just judge, do for us? We can trust Him to bring about justice for His chosen ones, and being persistent in praying is one way of showing our trust. We persist because we have faith that God will respond in perfect wisdom to our situation.

Eventually, Mila's supervisor resigned after other employees complained about her behavior. As we walk in obedience to God, let's persist in praying, knowing the power of our prayers lies in the one who hears and helps us. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Luke chapter 18, verses 1 through 8. Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said, In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to Him with the plea, Grant me justice against my adversary. For some time he refused, but finally he said to himself, Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually come and attack me. And the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says, And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night?

Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before You, knowing that You are the just judge who hears our prayers and responds with love and wisdom. Help us to trust in Your perfect timing and justice, even when we feel helpless or face adversity, and grant us the patience to continue seeking You in all circumstances. Thank You, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Joyce Dinkins, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.