Persistence
- Larry Kutzler
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
I like the one-word themes. They help me focus, and apply their meaning to a wide range of applications. Persistence, for example, can be applied to many aspects of our lives. We need to be persistent in how we get things accomplished. I have a family member who was persistent to lose weight, and he lost just under 200 pounds. Now, that was persistence. I have another acquaintance that told me he wanted to retire from his profession by the age of 40, so he could go into politics fulltime. He has a little more than a year to go, so we shall see if he makes it. But that is persistence … it affects every aspect of our lives. Jesus told us a story about persistence:
Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said, “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary. ’For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ “And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 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? 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?”
Prayer if it is anything, it is an exercise in persistence. It is asking God for something, and it can even have weak moments of complaining. But the objective is God. It is a two-sided coin of talking with Him and listening to Him. God wants us to speak with Him, and at the same time listen to Him. That’s what relationships are all about … communication. Jesus knew that prayers were not always answered when it is most convenient for them to be answered. That’s why He told the story of a godless judge who was under no obligation to answer the request of the nagging widow. It was her persistence that eventually got her the answer she was pursuing. How about you? Are you persistent in your asking God for something? Jesus said that God, who is a righteous judge, would answer prayers of the persistent. The last sentence in this Passage has some troubling ramifications, however. Will there be less persistent prayer taking place in the Last Days before His return? It is a question Jesus was asking. I too have some questions that need some answers:
Do our lives permit time to pray?
Do we believe prayer is important?
What is it about prayer that it is the last resort in many cases?
How often do we suggest we will pray about something, but fail to do so?
What is it about God, that we consult Him less and less in our society?
Will God find people who have faith in God on earth when He returns?
The Last Days will be a series of events that will work to take down your defenses, and wear you out in your persistence to serve God. Our society has been at work for decades to bring us further along the godless trail of unbelief.
So, my suggestion is that we be persistent in asking God for persistence. We need to shore up our defenses against a day of ungodly unbelief. I suggest a prayer for you:
Lord, You are the most important aspect of my life; let me strengthen myself in knowing You. Help me to take courage in building my life around Your Word, and strengthen my desire to resist the Devil and his plan to discourage me from following You. Help me be a person of persistence that will not give up on seeking You for my direction and answers as I live for You. In His Name … Amen!
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler