The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Friends, it sounds like to me that you have already to a great degree given up. Come on, get toward God. Let God reposition your mind and your heart and your soul. Let your focus be upon him.

Narrator (Male): Have you ever prayed for something again and again, wondering if God hears? Today Pastor Jack Morris reminds us that scripture encourages believers to keep praying and never give up. This message is called Persistence in Prayer.

Pastor Jack Morris: The title of the message is Persistence in Prayer. Open your scriptures to Luke chapter 18, and I'm going to read verse one. There are some key words and phrases there that we need to look at. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Always pray. How do you do that? Always in prayer? It says in First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 14, that we should pray continually, or as the King James says, pray without ceasing. How can I pray continually? Does that mean that I should be down on my knees somewhere with my hands folded 24 hours a day? It says pray continually.

Obviously, we know that we can't do that. The Bible tells us that there are other things that we should be doing. It tells us that we should be out evangelizing. It also tells us that we should work at our jobs and provide for our family. What does it mean? How can I pray continually, or as the scripture says, always pray?

A simple definition of prayer would be to lean forward, to be bent toward God always. There was a time in our life that we were bent toward the world. We were bent toward selfishness, toward materialism, toward lust, and toward sensualism. We were bent that way, but then through the grace of God, our lives and our minds were transformed. Now our lives are bent toward God.

That is what it really means to pray without ceasing or to always pray. Always keep your life bent toward God. There are things in this world out there to bend you back. The allure of that which is material and the allure of the sensual. Day and night, you and I are being continually presented with the material and the sensual.

The enemy is trying to bend us back, but we are to keep our lives bent toward God always. Always have the mindset, not the body set. Prayer is more than a position that the body is in. Prayer is the life that is bent toward God. The world will work on us and continually work on us to get us to move back, but the scripture says we should always pray and not give up.

I have worked with a lot of people. I work with adults all the time, and I am continually meeting people who are giving up. They are giving up on the church. They are giving up on God. They give up on prayer. They give up on their marriage. You just name it. There are people who are folding or are capitulating under pressure all over the area, all the time.

The scripture is telling us that we should always pray and not give up. Our lives should always be bent toward God. If our lives are always bent toward God, we won't give up. Someone might say, "Pastor Morris, tell me how to keep going. Tell me how I can press forward and not give up on my church, not give up on God, not give up on my prayer life, and not even give up on myself."

I meet a lot of Christian people who are absolutely so discouraged and disgusted with themselves. They have disappointed themselves. They haven't lived the Christian life. They slipped, and they are so disgusted they say, "Why should I even try anymore? I am what I am, and I'm not going to pretend. I'm not going to be a hypocrite. I'm just going to live like the sinner I am. I just can't live the Christian life."

They give up. They just quit and they go back to whatever they came from. How do I keep from giving up? The scripture says always pray. If you give up, that means you are not always praying. But if you are always praying, you are not going to give up. People who pray for their marriage don't give up on their marriage.

People who pray for their sons and daughters don't give up on them. People who pray for themselves don't give up on themselves. Always pray and don't give up. The only way to keep consistently bent toward God is to keep praying, always keeping your life focused in that direction. The scripture says in Colossians chapter 3, verse one, that we as God's people are to set our affections or to set our heart on things that are above.

Keep your bent toward the holy, that which is of God, that which is above. Keep looking that way. Always pray. Why should we always pray? Simply because God is always ready. That is what we are going to see in this parable today. God is always ready. We are going to look at an unjust judge who had to be badgered and pestered in order to move in the behalf of this distressed widow.

This is a study in contrast. God is always ready. He is not like the unjust judge. He is the opposite. We should always pray because God is always ready to hear and answer prayer. All omnipotence is at our disposal, even at the disposal of the weakest, youngest, and newest Christian. Someone might say, "I haven't been saved very long. I really don't know much about the Bible. I don't know how to pray."

That doesn't matter one little bit. All omnipotence is at your disposal. There is not a power that will come against you to tempt you to the material or to tempt you to the sensual, but that there is a resource in heaven adequate to help you overcome that. You don't have to give up. Say it: "I don't have to give up." I don't have to give up. You don't have to give up if we pray and keep our life bent toward God.

If we back off, start missing our daily devotions, stop reading the Bible, stop serving, and stop coming to church, then we start giving up. You can mark it down; it is because you have stopped praying and your life is no longer bent toward God. If your life is bent toward God, you are going to be very serious and very consistent.

You will be like that Christian whose life is built on the rock and nothing will move you. There are too many Christians today on very shaky ground. You just don't know from week to week if they are going to make it. Are they going to remain a Christian or are they going to give up and quit? All of heaven's resources are there. I meet Christians all the time who have already lost their vigor.

Their enthusiasm is beginning to wane. The least little thing can distract them away from church, away from prayer, or away from the Sunday school. Too many Christians are temporarily giving up. They say, "I'll just give up this Sunday and I'll catch it next Sunday. I'll make it up later. I won't go to church this Sunday, but I'll pray more next week. I won't tithe this week and I'll make it up next week."

Listen, you have your foot on a banana peel. You are on dangerous ground. You have lost your vigor. The enthusiasm is beginning to wane. The world is getting through to you. Look what the scripture says Jesus is saying: that we should always pray and not give up. If you are praying, you are going to be okay. If your life is bent toward God, you are going to be okay. You are going to make it.

If you are shaky today, if you are filled with doubt, or if there is an unrest within you, it is because you are not praying. The bent of your life should be toward God, toward the higher, toward the holy, and toward the divine. The world, through its allure and the pressure to get more material things, more pleasure, and more sensuality, is bending you back. You are beginning to lean in the wrong direction. Look out. Satan is about to topple you.

Men and women of God ought always to pray. Keep your life focused. It is not necessarily the position of your body. It is the position of your heart, which means your soul and your mind. Are your mind, your affections, and the love of your heart toward God? If they are, you are going to respond through prayer in a very spiritual way toward him.

Look at the word parable. A parable is simply a short story that has a little puzzling effect to cause us to think. That is what Jesus is saying. Come on, church. Put your mind in gear. Come on, people of God. Wake up and think. You once were lost, but now you are found. I want you to think about that for just a moment.

You once were blinded by the god of this world, but now you see. Think of what I have done for you. This is what God is saying. Think of who you are. Think of where you have come from. I want you to also think about something else. Think about the allure of the world and how the devil is trying to get you back. He will indeed get you back if you stop praying. You will give up.

You have a choice. Some of you today are just about ready to give up on a lot of things. Some of you have said, "I'm about ready to give up on myself, my family, and my church. I'm just so tired and discouraged. I'm about ready to go back to where I came from and have all the pleasure I can get and indulge in all the sexual, sinful, lustful things because being in church is just too hard."

Friends, it sounds to me like you have already to a great degree given up. Come on, get toward God. Let God reposition your mind and your heart and your soul. Let your focus be upon him. Begin to pray. Lean into it. Look to the Lord. Set your heart on God. He will strengthen you and make you strong. He wants to help you. All omnipotence is at your disposal.

There is not a thing out there that can harm you, turn you around, or pull you back. The power out there is not strong enough to do that, provided you have your affections toward God. You decide who you are going to love and who you are not going to love. Always pray. If you always pray and you are before the Lord always, walking in his presence, there is nothing out there that can touch you.

For those who are having some problems today, we are going to bow before him now. I want to pray for you because I love you. God loves you, and he doesn't want to lose you. All omnipotence is at your disposal. You have but to ask. Father God, I pray for your people today. Some are really going through some deep waters and very difficult places in their life.

Spiritually, the vigor is gone, the fire has dwindled, and the enthusiasm has waned. Lord, they are just having a very difficult time putting their heart into their Christian life. Help them to know that you love them, that you care for them, and that you stand ready. Help them remember that we are to always pray because you are always ready to help us.

When we pray, you are there. You are here right now this morning to hear our prayer, to answer our prayer, to forgive our sins, to put spiritual life back into our hearts, and to give us a new life, a new vision, and a new thrust for God. Help us, Lord, to lean toward you, to always pray, and not give up. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Narrator (Male): Persistent prayer strengthens our faith and keeps our hearts aligned with God's will. If you need prayer today, visit thehealingword.com and share your request on our prayer wall, where believers around the world join in prayer together. Your support helps make this ministry possible. If you would like to extend this outreach, we invite you to prayerfully consider making a donation. We're grateful you joined us today. Thank you.