Being Unceasing In Prayer
This is a study we dug into in our online group last weekend with Frances sharing with us. We pray that it encourages you to stay in the place of prayer and remain steadfast by God’s grace. .amen.
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So I have been a bit lazy in prayer this week.
In fact, since after Saturday’s hours in tongues I wanted to relax and rest,especially as that Saturday and Sunday night I didn’t sleep well.
So I wanted to rest. And rest from Saturday night entered monday. And this week I think i have only prayed at night twice. Yes i prayed in the daytime, but night-time in felt like..let me sleep..i have tried. Gradually i wanted to start seeping into discouragement. Like i have been praying since, if that one never do.. God what else.
Especially yesterday. I felt lethargy to go sit before the Lord.
No mushy feelings and no hard rush God I love you! Just a sense of “Lord I’m tired”.
So today I started listening to Kenneth Hagin’s message i downloaded on Angels.
Since i cannot function without God and feelings or no feelings I have to fill up.. i downloaded messages to help me.
In the dream i and some ladies wanted to go out. I think to have fun or something. We were loading stuff into the boot of the car. Then i remembered that i forgot something in the house and i went back to get it.
And I saw Kenneth Hagin in the house. He took me round and started telling me about how the Spirit of grace and supplication fell on some people and they were praying for non stop. He mentioned something about two hours prayer or something.
“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?”
-Luke 18:1-8 NIV
We have had a pretty intense last two months spiritually on the earth. Here on twtw for those who followed the fast and prayers,we were on a high last month. It’s easy to think that things should cool off a bit and you need to rest/need a break.
And then if you also have some stuff in your life you need change in, it’s easy to think “i have been sitting before the Lord all these while.. faithful.. praying. . Digging in.. where are you Lord!?. Little by little lethargy starts to brew,your prayer time alarm rings and you snooze it.
But I believe God was telling me today that it’s not yet time for fun, it’s not yet time for lukewarmness, not yet time to go gallivanting around and needed a break.
He poured out the Spirit of prayer and supplication on us for nonstop prayer.
I read that passage on the msg version:
“Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, “There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people.
A widow in that city kept after him: ‘My rights are being violated. Protect me!’ “He never gave her the time of day.
But after this went on and on he said to himself, ‘I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won’t quit badgering me, I’d better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I’m going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.’” Then the Master said, “Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?”
-Luke 18:1-8 MSG
I underlined a few things in my Bible..
Persistently
Never quit
Consistently
Continually
Jesus’ rhetorical question also hit me:
“How many would I find on earth with such persistent faith?”
Where is persistent faith built? Its in unanswered prayers
Where is character built?
Where are we made in God?
Persistent faith…
Whats the raw material for persistent faith?
How is a Christian built enough to be unshaken.. how is her root dug deep?
Consistent…
Relentless…
Continual…
Never giving up prayer..
Why is God looking for those who can push through?
Because Jesus said those kind of people are rare.
He says “how much of that kind of persistent faith will I find. . When I return”
Is your faith persistent? Enough to say.. “Lord I will still sit you till you deem fit to rain from heaven upon me?”
Sometimes we give up so easily. I have realised that sometimes when we say “God’s will be done.. whatever he says oh”.
It’s not that we are praying for His will but because we are tired and are in unbelief.
God is asking “who can build back bone in prayer? In intercession. Who can I find who won’t let me go till I arise with healing in my wings for them?”
I found that one tip to remain persistent in prayer is to make the object of our worship God. If the object of our worship is our need, we will lose grip when we don’t see it However if we have the mindset of “I have no where else to turn, if I don’t sit before you i can’t live”
If God has become our sustenance then we can’t live without him.
It’s now no longer a function of needs or things.. but a function of.. *if I don’t pray and sit before my Lord.. I can’t survive*
Not all persistence have the mushy feelings attached.
I imagine that this widow wasn’t always so revved up to meet the judge, some days she must have went by just a sheer force of will,not because she liked to see the Judge’s face. We shouldn’t wait for feelings to sit before the Lord.
We need backbones as Christians. We need to grow,we need to stop crying and be able to say like Jesus “it is written”
No matter what I see.. “it is written Lord. . Your word says…
And stand upon it.. our language must change to that of the word.
Finally:
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
-Philippians 4:6-7 MSG
Worry sitting as centre of our lives is what causes discouragement.The art of learning how to take issues to God in prayer is one that will last us forever. The skill of replacing worry with prayer is a very valuable, it’s a skill we cannot do without.
It says you can take your worries to prayer and maybe you are even anxious as you pray, but as you continue in prayer a sense of peace will displace worry in your heart.
If you have to do that skill 20 times a day. Do it. Stay persistent
God help us in this season to dig in as we should in Jesus name.. amen.
Lots of love,
The Women At The Well
