Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart: (Luke 18:1)

People who read the Bible regularly notice some statements that are regularly repeated: “Fear not”, “Wait on the Lord”, and “Don’t lose heart.” Why does God give us these messages so often? Because it’s so easy to give in to fear, to become impatient with God’s timing, and to give up and quit because following God seems too hard.

Jesus told a story to address the problem of unanswered prayer or confusing delays in God’s answers to our prayers. A widow went to a judge to get an answer to a legal dispute, but the judge ignored her. She wouldn’t quit. She kept going back again and again. Finally, the exhausted and exasperated judge gave her an answer. Jesus must have had a smile on His face when He compared our loving, compassionate Father with the stubborn, neglectful judge in the story. “Surely” Jesus explained, “we can trust the Father to answer us if we plead with Him night and day” (see Luke 18:7)

Delays may occur for many reasons. God may be preparing the situation or the person, or He may be preparing us to receive what we’ve asked for. Or He may be working in our hearts to show us that we can trust Him even when He says No to our persistent request. We can be sure eventually, we’ll receive an answer from God, and with that assurance, we won’t lose heart.