Exhortation About Prayer
Daily Reading
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1)
THREE important things are said about prayer in this statement by Christ. They are the duty of praying, the dedication in praying, and the discontinuing of praying.
Duty of praying. “Men ought always to pray.” There are many things which men ought to do, one of them is pray. Prayer is not an option, it is a duty. The word “ought” says so. The Greek word translated “ought” in our text means it is necessary, it is needful. We must pray or we disobey God. We must pray or we disable ourselves. We all have so many needs in our life and, therefore, we need to pray. It is a tragic shame that some courts in our land have ruled out prayer in some places in our land. Obviously, the courts of our land are woefully ignorant of this truth about the duty of prayer. They are so stupid or rebellious or both, that they rule against a Divinely declared duty for mankind. That makes the courts a problem not a remedy for our land.
Dedication in praying. “Men ought always to pray.” The word “always” emphasizes dedication in prayer. It does not mean we are to pray every minute of the day. That is not practical. It means we are to be faithful to our regular times and seasons of prayer; it means to pray in both good times and bad times; and it means to continually be in a spirit of prayer. Dedication will have good habits of prayer. And dedication includes being ready to pray at any moment.
Discontinuing of praying. “And not faint.” Fainting means to become weary of something and, therefore, quit. Fainting is an ever present problem in our prayer life. We must overcome the tendency to faint if we are to have a good prayer life. There are many things which cause us to faint. Defilement from sin can do it, doubt can do it, danger can do it, distractions can do it, and delay can do it—few things cause us to faint more in our praying than delays in answer to our requests. But our verse exhorts us to keep praying anyway and not to faint. Let God take care of the answers, and let us concentrate on doing the praying.
John G. Butler, Daily Bible Reading: Sermonettes, vol. 2 (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2004), 303.
Reflection
Prayer isn’t just a line of communication, it’s our lifeline. I’ve learned that when I drift from prayer, I start trying to carry everything myself. That never lasts long before the weight shows up in my attitude, my words, or my outlook.
What John Butler reminds me here is that prayer isn’t about convenience or comfort, it’s about obedience. It’s what keeps us anchored when circumstances make no sense. Whether we’re standing strong or feeling faint, prayer is how we hand things back to God and let Him do what we can’t.
Prayer is a conversation with someone you love. Pray like you’re talking to your best friend that’s standing right by your side, because that’s who God is for us. I have found that when you do this, He will answer you.
Let’s stay faithful in prayer this week. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary.