Jesus gave to us several promises concerning our prayer life and the guarantee of receiving those things for which we pray. Beginning at Luke Chapter 18 the Master explained a Parable  to the Disciples illustrating this guarantee.  The passage of our study this week reads as follows:

And he spoke a Parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;  Saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge says. And shall not God avenge His Own elect, who cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall He find Faith on the earth? (Luke 18:1-8)

This passage of Scripture and the understanding of its meaning is a very valuable treasure to our spiritual lives.  Let us examine what the Master told us.  To begin, Luke told us what the subject matter of Jesus Parable concerned – “that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (ver 1).  Prayer within itself, at times, may be wearying to the flesh.  The knowledge that we should pray may lie within us, but the exercise of this privilege may be difficult to begin and maintain if we fail to understand the overwhelming, guaranteed results of its exercise.  Even when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, hours before his Crucifixion, Peter, James, and John struggled to watch and pray with the Messiah for even one hour. Jesus warned them at that time, “Why sleep ye? Rise and pray lest you enter into temptation” (Luke 22:46).  He then told them, “The Spirit is truly ready, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38).  Jesus was saying to them and us that prayer is the major weapon provided to the child of God to defend against temptation which will inevitably be brought our way by Satan.  It is the temptation to depend upon self and to take a course of action outside of God’s Will which is spoken of here.  Consistent prayer within one’s life will provide the Lord with the open door to bring the attributes of wisdom, discernment, and understanding within that life, that the believer’s decisions may be in tune with His Will, and his mind may be open further to a greater revelation of the Scriptures – the only thing that can truly change him for the better.