May 10 2025

Saturday May10

1 Thessalonians 5:17 - “Pray without ceasing”. 

Luke 18:1-8

1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.' " 6 Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

If we don't pray, we will faint; it's as simple as that! The word faint describes a believer who loses heart and gets so discouraged that he or she wants to quit. There is a connection between what our Lord said in Luke 18:1 and His statement in Luke 17:37. If society is like a rotting corpse, then the "atmosphere" in which we live is being slowly polluted, and this is bound to affect our spiritual lives. But when we pray, we draw on the "pure air" of heaven, and this keeps us from fainting.

In other words, we're living in a polluted, ungodly, wicked world, it appears to be controlled by Satan, and if we're not careful we will faint. On several occasions, I have fainted. It is usually when a doctor or nurse sticks a needle in my arm to draw blood or put something inside me. It causes me to start going out, and I'll say to the people around me, "I'll see you later." My blood pressure drops, my pulse drops, and I faint. Have you ever notice that one thing they always do when someone faints is give them air or some good oxygen.

In this passage in Luke 18, Jesus said men ought always to pray and not to faint. Then he tells the story of the widow and the unjust judge and talks about the adversary that's out to overcome this woman. My friend, we live in a polluted world, breathing its air, and if we're not careful, we won't get enough spiritual oxygen, the pure atmosphere of heaven in our spiritual life. We will throw in the towel and quit, looking at the circumstances rather than the great God who is in charge and has already defeated Satan on the cross. We need to breathe the spiritual air of heaven.

That's what praying is all about. Men ought always to pray, as the scripture teaches us. We are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This doesn't mean repeating the same prayer over and over, but that praying should become as natural as breathing. We don't think about breathing until we can't breathe, until we need oxygen in our body. That's when we learn to pray always, without ceasing, because prayer becomes as natural as breathing. We're always thinking, "God, you're right here with me, you're going to answer our prayers, you're a Father who cares about me."

Prayer is much more than the words on our lips; it's the desires of our heart. Our hearts are constantly desiring Him. If you're desiring the things of the world and the flesh, looking at circumstances, problems, and difficulties, you'll be overwhelmed and faint. You won't have enough spiritual oxygen. That's when our heart cries out to God, "Oh God, help me, meet my needs, speak to me, strengthen me, give me the grace I need to face this situation." Praying without ceasing means that we have holy desires, we want to do the will of God, we're constantly loving Him and in communion with our Father in heaven, desiring His blessings. That's what real prayer is.

My friend, we're either going to choose to pray or we're going to faint, throw in the towel, and quit. We'll lose heart in the battle. But we need to remember that the battle's already won through Jesus Christ and His cross. Yesterday, I said we're kind of like the woman, hopeless and helpless, with no standing before the court. But in another way, it's just the opposite. We're not like this woman; we are children of God. We have access to the Father. (We will talk more about that tomorrow).

Today, remember you're a child of God. God delights for you to be in His presence. He wants you to have Him on your heart continually. When you do that, you're praying without ceasing, breathing the spiritual air of heaven. You're strengthened, encouraged, you sense His presence, and everything's okay. “I will not fear, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, for Thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).

I trust you will have a wonderful day thinking about these things.

God bless!