Always Pray and Not Lose Heart

Men should always pray & not lose heart

The passage for reading was Luke 18: 1-8. This can be hard to digest or understand at times. From where man stands, God seems to delay justice and help at times. These don't always come speedily. I have to trust that what seems like a "delay" for me is part of His Romans 8:28 thing. He is always working all things together. Luke 18:7 hints that God may delay, and in those moments I should not lose heart. I should keep praying. He wants to find faith in me, a faith which is not my strong resolve or determination to trust, but faith that places unwavering confidence in the One that I trust. This kind of faith does not just come by simple pumped-up motivational  or positive thinking. This kind of faith comes by knowing more of WHO HE IS through His Word.

I like what Helps Word Studies  says about "praying" from verse 1. It says, "prayer is exchanging wishes, literally, to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes or ideas for His wishes as He imparts faith or "divine persuasion."

That's supernatural. And the outcome happens when we continue in prayer. We begin with our own thoughts and wishes, and as we get to more deeply know and experience God in our lives and prayers, we become more attuned to how He thinks and what He desires for our lives.

How do your grow in prayer and in faith?

I like what Pete Greig said about how we grow in prayer: "You cannot grow in prayer without some measure of effort and discomfort, self-discipline and self-denial."

I believe the same. Growth, whether in prayer, in faith, or in your knowledge and experience of God, growth needs 3 things:

1. Learning knowledge
This is not just information. There needs to be an understanding and processing of what you come to know.

2. Effort
You have to put efforts in. It doesn't automatically come to you. You have to read, meditate. You have to train your sights and senses to find God's hand in your life. You need to make priorities and choices, put in the clockwork for prayer, meditation, and service to God.

3. Friction
There needs to be some friction, some resistance, something that causes energy and movement to propel you from 1 point to another or from 1 form to another. What does that means. Sometimes, you may go forward-- from 1 point to another. Other times, nothing happens, but you go from weak to strong and strong to stronger-- from 1 form to another.

Will update this post with further thoughts.

Meanwhile, today is Day 4 of my reading on 'how to pray' by Pete Greig via bible.com. 

Here's some

Highlights from the book

• One of the most important keys to "keeping it up" in prayer is to develop the discipline of a daily "quiet time". Jesus once invited his friends, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest", (Mark 6:31 NIVUK)
• You cannot grow in prayer without some measure of effort and discomfort, self-discipline and self-denial.
• Your spiritual growth will be determined, to a very significant extent, by the prayer exercises you choose (or do not choose) to establish and sustain. 
• Develop rhythms of prayer that are regular and sustainable: make it easy (set yourself an achievable target) and keep it up.
• Every single prayer is heard.

photo credit to pexels