Don't Lose Heart

Dr. David Jeremiah

Then [Jesus] spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.

Luke 18:1

Every parent has had the experience of being worn down by a toddler who keeps asking for some “can’t wait” item. The request is genuine and legitimate but comes at an inopportune time for the parent. In order to stop the asking, the parent stops what they are doing and grants the child’s request.

Jesus told a parable with a similar set of details. A widow kept approaching a callous judge in her pursuit of justice in a certain matter. He ignored her many requests until finally he relented because the widow “was driving [him] crazy” (Luke 18:5, NLT). In other words, she wore the judge down until he gave in. The parable was about not losing heart in prayer, but in no way was Jesus comparing God to a callous or hard-hearted judge. In fact, just the opposite. He basically was saying, if a callous judge will grant requests, how much more will our loving God?

When a widow was bold enough to ask Elisha for help, it was given. And Jesus says the same: Ask God boldly and persistently for what you need.

Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural.

Oswald Chambers