“Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?” —Luke 18:7
No one wants to suffer. But we really don’t want to suffer long-term. Our collective tendency is to barrel through seasons of suffering to get to the place of relief as quickly as possible. Yet sometimes relief remains out of sight and suffering settles in to stay.
But here’s a truth you can cling to during those times: God never tires of your persistent prayers.
Did you pray for relief, and did you stop praying when it didn’t come? Do you take your continued suffering as a sign that God isn’t listening? Remember what Jesus said in the Parable of the Persistent Widow: to always pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1–8).
In this parable, the unrighteous judge may have been “bothered” by the persistent widow, but Christ is not bothered by you. Keep coming. Keep asking. Cry day and night for relief.
There is no statute of limitations on prayer. As long as your suffering remains, keep asking the Lord to deliver you from it.
Make it Personal
How does Luke 18:1–8 encourage you to keep crying out to God in your suffering?