Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1

If you’ve prayed for something for years without any visible success, would you assume you should give up?

How long should you keep on praying when your prayers seem to be doing no good?

Jesus’ own followers had questions about prayer. Through several stories, He told them to “always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1).  Jesus taught shameless persistence in prayer. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find.  Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you,” Jesus said (Luke 11:9).

In the 1800s, a man named George Mueller began to pray for five people to come to faith in Jesus. “‘I prayed every day without a single intermission,’ he wrote, ‘Whether sick or in health, on the land, on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements might be. Eighteen months elapsed before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God and prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed, and then the second was converted. I thanked God… and prayed on for the other three. Day by day, I continued to pray for them, and six years passed before the third was converted. I thanked God… and went on praying for the other two.'”

Thirty-six years later, Mueller said, “‘I hope in God, I pray on, and look for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be.'”[1] Fifty-two years after George Mueller began to pray, the last two men came to faith…. after Mueller’s death!

Discouraged in prayer today?  God is listening. Don’t give up!

[1] “George Muller Persistent Prayer for 5 Individuals.” GeorgeMuller.org, 7 Mar. 2017, https://www.georgemuller.org/devotional/george-muller-persistent-prayer-for-5-individuals.