I think I am prone to lose heart and give up on prayer, to quit praying.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged. – Luke 18:1 GNT

I think it is simple because, at some point, life keeps happening regardless if I am praying or not. I forget that I depend on God for protection even though I may know how to do what I am doing. Thinking I can handle life on my own does not help.

Pray! Pray! Pray!

What is Jesus encouraging me to do, to be – persistent in prayer.

I am a person created with a spiritual instinct – which means prayer does come naturally. It is the obstacles in life that steal my effective and constant prayer.

This spirit of prayer is hard to measure. What in fact am I measuring? Prayer is hard work and is sometimes described as labouring.

“There is the understanding, by which we work intelligently; there is the heart, but which we labour willingly, there is the will by which we labour doggedly.” – Morrison

I do know that the evil one hates prayer. If prayer were powerless, it would become rather easy. So maybe I also fail to remember that or am convinced of that. It becomes my last resort instead of my first resource.

I am reminded again that Jesus lived a prayerful life and continues to this very day to pray for those like me.

As I face tomorrow, the pressures of this world will become greater – it calls me to watch more, be more sober and to pray and not be discoouraged.

It would seem that I only have two choices -pray or be discouraged.

The history of the church has always been a history of grave difficulties to overcome. The devil hates the church and seeks in every way to block its progress; now by false doctrine, again by division, again by inward corruption of life. But by prayer, a clear way can be made through everything. Prayer will root out heresy, allay misunderstanding, sweep away jealousies and animosities, obliterate immoralities, and bring in the full tide of God’s reviving grace. History abundantly proves this. In the hour of darkest portent, when the case of the church, local or universal, has seemed beyond hope, believing men and believing women have met together and cried to God and the answer has come. – R. A. Torrey