Life Capsule for Today 15th March, 2024
Theme: Consistency in Prayer (6)
Topic: Persistence in prayer
Memory Verse for the week: 1Th 5:17: Pray without ceasing.
Today’s Reading:Luk 18:1-8
1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Words of the Ministry
Today we come to the matter of persistence. One of the excuses given by many is that their prayers are not heard even after praying and some say their prayers although heard are not answered, these tends to discourage many and eventually translate into weakness in the place of prayers. Attempting to answer this, I like to say that for a believer, there is nothing like unheard prayer nor unanswered prayers. All prayers are heard and God answers it in different ways, while in some cases he says yes, to some other requests, he says no, to some he says wait and to others he answers by replacing our request with his perfect will in which case because we don’t realize it, we say he hasn’t answered. I must emphasize that we can’t separate answered prayers from our organic salvation in life as prayers and other needs of the believer is God’s primary means of transformation.
From the parable given to the apostles, the Lord used a certain situation that existed between an ungodly human Judge and a widow to teach the lesson of persistence in prayer. From the reading, although the judge never had the fear of God and man, he eventually met the request of the widow because she didn’t give him rest at day nor night. The parable went on to say if an ungodly judge would answer the request of a widow how much more would God answer the request of his saints that cry to him day and night. We can therefore see that what you call prolonged prayers, prayers that you make day and night is actually acknowledged by God and he would indeed answer accordingly. Many get easily discouraged not knowing that above all prayer shapes our character as it teaches us persistence, long suffering, faith and endurance. Our eventual testimony at the end of the day also strengthens others.
Saints don’t be discouraged by the seeming unanswered prayers, the bible says concerning Elijah that he prayed earnestly for rain to stop and prayed again to restore it (Jam 5.17-18) but while we read the account in 1 Kings 17, we may not have seen his persistence despite praying the will of God. Concerning Jesus, the bible said in Heb 5:7 -8, Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. So, we see from Jesus story that his persistence in prayer taught him one lesson, the lesson of Obedience. So, we shouldn’t be discouraged, we must learn to labor in prayers and the lord would not only answer our request but further save us organically, may the Lord grant us light.
Bible in one year: Joshua 7-9. For further fellowship send us an email on godmanvideos@gmail.comor visit our youtube channel: @godmanmedia. You can also interact with us by dropping your comments on our facebook page. Our physical meeting, Word feast comes up every Wednesday by 5pm and Prayer Gym every Saturday by 7am while PENIEL comes up once a month, every last Sunday of the month from 4pm to 6.30pm at Suite A10, Ahser Office Complex, beside Living Faith Church, Opposite Hassan Stores, Arab Road, Kubwa Abuja.