40 Days - Day 9 (March 25 - May 3)

“Do Not Lose Heart”


Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart.
Luke 18:1


It is very possible that by this time, some of you have already seen God intervene in your life is powerful ways. You may have had the opportunity to testify about how good God is and tell others what He has done for you. It is also quite possible that some of you have heard these testimonies and feel like God has forgotten about you. Nothing has changed - you have prayed and you kept going through this challenge but for you, things are as bad as they have ever been. Things may have even gotten worse for you since this challenge began and you are thinking about giving up.
Perhaps you came today in a last desperate attempt to hear from God. You are at a critical point in this journey. If you are one of these people, what you choose to do and what you choose to believe will have huge implications. If you abandon ship now you will stay stuck where you are and perhaps never see the deliverance of the Lord. If you keep praying and keep asking, and keep believing to possess the land, your whole life could change. Which choice will you make? You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Notice what Jesus said before going into the parable about the widow woman and the wicked judge. He said two things that we must embrace, and for some of you, it must be embraced and received today. Jesus told His listeners that they should keep praying at all times and they should not lose heart.
Let’s get real – t here are times I do not feel like praying. There are days when things seem so bad it appears God is not even listening. There are days when the waves of life hit us so hard our knees buckle and we plunge beneath the surf of our circumstances gasping for breath. There are days when the darkness will not seem to lift and we can’t find a ray of hope even through prayer and scripture reading. What are we supposed to do in such times? Keep praying. Now, I am not talking about merely going through the motions of prayer. I am not referring to half-hearted and feeble attempts in prayer that we know we do not believe. At all times we are supposed to pray. Remember on Day One what we learned about prayer and faith according to Hebrews 11:1? This is the day when we need assurance, we need hope and expectation that God is listening and God will intervene. There are many delays for the child of God waiting for prayers to be answered. Expect them and prepare for them. Preach to your soul that God has not forgotten you and by all means do not become jealous if there are those around you who seeing their prayers answered. Pray at all times.
Instead of sinking into hopelessness, why not step of your prayer efforts? God may be using this time to strengthen you or to orchestrate your circumstances and His intervention in such a way that He will get the maximum amount of glory. I cannot tell you how many times the Lord has required me to wait until the last moment before He stepped in and saved the day. He is often the God of 11:59 – meaning that if you are facing a 12:00 deadline, God often waits until 11:59 to step in, to test your faith and bring more glory to Himself.
If you find yourself waiting on Him for something, determine that you are going to wait in faith. Determine that you will stay busy seeking Him and serving Him while you are waiting and do not become idle. When we become idle the Devil has ample opportunity to put his conniving and deceitful thoughts into our heads. He is the one who leads us to lose heart, or to put it another way, to become discouraged and to sink into despair. We must keep praying, keep trusting and keep being willing to obey even in these times.
One of the tactics of the enemy is to convince you that nobody else understands what you are going through and you therefore begin to isolate yourself. God knows and has counsel for you from His word. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by brethren who are in the world.” (I Peter 5:8-9) You are not in this alone. That is why at the very beginning of this challenge you were exhorted to join some type of prayer group so that when your strength wanes and you feel like giving up, you can be surrounded by friends who will be strong on your behalf and pray you through those tough times.
Even if you are one of those who are on top of the world, do not let your guard down. Keep praying. At all times, pray. In the good times, pray. In the bad times, pray. In the mundane times, pray. In the challenging times, pray. In any and every season of life, keep on praying and keep on asking for God’s help.
Do not lose heart. What is the opposite of losing heart? Take courage. Keep on trusting. Keep on being encouraged in the scriptures. Over and over again the pages of scripture shout to us on our lofty mountain peak experiences as well as when we are trudging through the valley of the shadow of death that our God is reliable, trustworthy, and faithful. Fill your heart and mind with those truths today.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

How is your prayer time going? Do you still pray with faith even when you do not feel like praying and do not feel like God is listening?
What season are you going through right now? Are you encouraged or discouraged? What is helping you gain and maintain the victory?
What truth about prayer can you learn from reading Luke 18:1-8?
Ask the Lord to help you not lose heart over the remainder of this challenge and to have the desire to even want to pray.
What is the Lord speaking to you and what steps of obedience is He calling you to take?