Don't Give Up....

[PinkPebbles]

Don't Give Up
By Simon Whitton

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.

3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men,

5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'"

6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.
Luke 18:1-6 (NIV)

At one time my boys attended a Christian school. At the school a student had stolen a watch. The staff was quite sure who had stolen it, but they couldn't prove it. So they prayed every day for that child. After a few weeks the student came forward and confessed.


People are skeptical when it comes to prayer, even Christians. We think God doesn't care about us or the issue that we are bringing before Him. We may think that our personal influence with God is miniscule compared with those 'great men of faith'. Perhaps we think because He doesn't answer our prayer right away that He's not going to.


Jesus is intimately aware of our insecurities regarding prayer, so He used this parable to demonstrate a worst case scenario.


First, He would have us imagine a judge, a God that actually doesn't care about justice or about us. Then imagine you are an insignificant person in His jurisdiction, not only a woman, who had little power or influence in that culture, but a widow, who would have had even less.


But what she did have was tenacity. She didn't give up. She kept on with her prayers. After some time her persistence got the attention of the unjust judge, and even He saw to it that the widow got justice.


The Lord makes the point that if prayers can be answered in this worst case scenario, how much more can we expect God to answer our prayers. Our God is a good and righteous judge who is deeply concerned about justice. And unlike the insignificant widow, we are highly regarded by God. Jesus went on to say:


7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Luke 18:7-8 (NIV)


Jesus' intent with this parable is to inspire you to faith, to have you believe that your prayers will be answered, and that you shouldn't give up until they are.

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
Luke 17:6 (NIV)


Our faith does not have to be large. Even the fact that you spend private time in prayer is evidence that you do have some faith. All that's required is a tiny mustard seed's worth of faith and some tenacity.


Spend some time in prayer...Don’t give up on God because He won’t give up on you.

 

[Sugarshoc]

Thank you for posting this. The timing was just right.

 

[Shimmie]

Thank Precious PinkPebbles Your Ministry is always on time and most healing.

 

[felic1]

Yes, this is a necessary reminder!!

 

[LiciaB]

Right on time and very much appreciated! Thank you PinkPebbles!

 

[PinkPebbles]

Ladies, I praise God that you were blessed.

Yesterday in prayer the Holy Spirit spoke those words to me "Don't Give Up." When I came across the devotional I knew that God was speaking to me. That devotional blessed my soul and I felt led to share.

I'm blessed that we serve a God that loves, compassionate, merciful, and always with us.

****************************************************************

February 2, 2014

Don't Give Up
Hayle DiMarco


When you first start out as a godly woman, you are passionate, hopeful, and excited, but as the storms start to hit your life and the winds get to blowin’, you start to bend under the stress of it all.

When that happens you have two choices: you can either reject your first love, God, or hold on tightly to Him.

You can either forget all that you know about him and run for cover, or you can just keep on keepin’ on, trusting Him like you did in the beginning.

In the life of faith trials are gonna come. Your faith has to be tested, purified. You have to prove your faith is real. So don’t look at trials as something you’ve got to worry about but as a natural part of growing up.

The strong tree isn’t the one planted inside a warm, comfortable box in a climate-controlled building. Nope, the strong tree is the one planted outside in the elements, forced to live with extreme temperatures, drought, and snow.

This hardy tree digs deep into the ground to keep itself alive, always reaching for more life – giving nutrients, always holding on, even against all hope.

Your roots can grow strong too when you survive every season and keep on getting those life-giving elements from the Heavenly Father.

A small little sapling grows into an enormous oak when it holds tightly to the soil that surrounds it; You too will grow strength when you hold tightly to the Word of God.

Job 42:12 The Lord blessed the latter years of Job’s life more than the earlier years.

 

[LiftedUp]

^^^ I especially liked the verse at the end. When I was reading my first thought was "I feel like Job right now" then I asked for forgiveness because my problems are minuscule compared to Job's.

I'm working on letting go and letting God and having faith in his plan. Also trusting that the best will come out of my situations because through Him all things are possible and if there is a miracle to be done or and intercession to take place, it's only him and his will.

 

[stephluv]

Ladies, I praise God that you were blessed.

Yesterday in prayer the Holy Spirit spoke those words to me "Don't Give Up." When I came across the devotional I knew that God was speaking to me. That devotional blessed my soul and I felt led to share.

I'm blessed that we serve a God that loves, compassionate, merciful, and always with us.

****************************************************************

February 2, 2014

Don't Give Up
Hayle DiMarco


When you first start out as a godly woman, you are passionate, hopeful, and excited, but as the storms start to hit your life and the winds get to blowin’, you start to bend under the stress of it all.

When that happens you have two choices: you can either reject your first love, God, or hold on tightly to Him.

You can either forget all that you know about him and run for cover, or you can just keep on keepin’ on, trusting Him like you did in the beginning.

In the life of faith trials are gonna come. Your faith has to be tested, purified. You have to prove your faith is real. So don’t look at trials as something you’ve got to worry about but as a natural part of growing up.

The strong tree isn’t the one planted inside a warm, comfortable box in a climate-controlled building. Nope, the strong tree is the one planted outside in the elements, forced to live with extreme temperatures, drought, and snow.

This hardy tree digs deep into the ground to keep itself alive, always reaching for more life – giving nutrients, always holding on, even against all hope.

Your roots can grow strong too when you survive every season and keep on getting those life-giving elements from the Heavenly Father.

A small little sapling grows into an enormous oak when it holds tightly to the soil that surrounds it; You too will grow strength when you hold tightly to the Word of God.

Job 42:12 The Lord blessed the latter years of Job’s life more than the earlier years.

I love this!! Thank you once again I can count on this forum to give me the boost I may need Whew I'm so thankful

 

[Laela]

Nope.. won't ever give up. Love this reminder of a thread!

 

[ONAMSHN]

I stumbled across this post for a reason!!!! I WON'T GIVE UP!!!

 

[crazytrish75]

I don't think there is anything else that could have lifted me up today more than this thread. I am going through the fire right now, but each step of the way, God has showed up and showed out. I especially enjoyed the part in the OP about how we tend to believe that our little selves are incapable of influencing an almighty God. I continuously have to remind myself that God cares about EVERYTHING in our lives that are important to us, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. So often when I pray, I feel unnecessary guilt for praying for myself when there are so many others worse off than me. I have to keep telling myself, that yes, other people have serious problems, but that doesn't negate the problems that affect my life and God does care about them.

The absolute best thing about the trauma I am going through now? My faith is stronger than ever. I have learned so much more about the Lord and His ways in this past year than I ever have as a lifelong Christian.

I wan to share what I posted on Facebook just this very morning.
"When you hear the voice of God telling you something, listen to it. He makes no mistakes, He knows what He is talking about. You can't go wrong when you follow His prompting".

In a nutshell, I had a serious situation in my life that I needed a clear, direct answer to. For the first time ever in my life, I had a very direct, audible answer from the Lord. Most of us as Christians know that rarely does God speak to us audibly, but rather through subtle measures. Just because of that fact, I listened and listened hard. It set off a chain of events that has me reeling. I asked for more clarification. I received it, again, very drastically. I am an emotional wreck right now, yet completely at peace because I trusted my Father. The title of this thread says it all, "don't give up". What is going down in my life was years in the making, but God delivered right on time. As I said, He makes no mistakes.

I also want to add, that when this whole drama began, I pm'd Shimmie for advice a year ago. I just want to say that her words still ring in my ears and I am forever grateful for the prayer. God bless you all!

 

[PinkPebbles]

crazytrish75 thank you for sharing.

As I read your post it reminded me of a verse that I received in my inbox this morning 2 Cor. 1:3-4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

It's a blessing to read how you experienced God's comfort and mercy in your trials and in your prayer life ....In addition, your testimony brought comfort to others.

Praise God!

I don't think there is anything else that could have lifted me up today more than this thread. I am going through the fire right now, but each step of the way, God has showed up and showed out. I especially enjoyed the part in the OP about how we tend to believe that our little selves are incapable of influencing an almighty God. I continuously have to remind myself that God cares about EVERYTHING in our lives that are important to us, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. So often when I pray, I feel unnecessary guilt for praying for myself when there are so many others worse off than me. I have to keep telling myself, that yes, other people have serious problems, but that doesn't negate the problems that affect my life and God does care about them.

The absolute best thing about the trauma I am going through now? My faith is stronger than ever. I have learned so much more about the Lord and His ways in this past year than I ever have as a lifelong Christian.

I wan to share what I posted on Facebook just this very morning.
"When you hear the voice of God telling you something, listen to it. He makes no mistakes, He knows what He is talking about. You can't go wrong when you follow His prompting".

In a nutshell, I had a serious situation in my life that I needed a clear, direct answer to. For the first time ever in my life, I had a very direct, audible answer from the Lord. Most of us as Christians know that rarely does God speak to us audibly, but rather through subtle measures. Just because of that fact, I listened and listened hard. It set off a chain of events that has me reeling. I asked for more clarification. I received it, again, very drastically. I am an emotional wreck right now, yet completely at peace because I trusted my Father. The title of this thread says it all, "don't give up". What is going down in my life was years in the making, but God delivered right on time. As I said, He makes no mistakes.

I also want to add, that when this whole drama began, I pm'd @Shimmie for advice a year ago. I just want to say that her words still ring in my ears and I am forever grateful for the prayer. God bless you all!