God Comes Where He's Wanted: Discovering New Hope When Your Prayers Feel Like They're Going Nowhereਨਮੂਨਾ

Sometimes, the most difficult prayers are the ones we've prayed for years. You know, the ones - the same prayer you prayed this year that you also prayed last year. And the year before. And the year before that. The prayer that makes your knuckles bloody from knocking so long.

In Luke 18, Jesus tells a fascinating story about persistence in prayer. This story is unique because Jesus gives us the meaning before he tells the parable: "He told them a parable on the need to pray always and not give up."

The story involves an unjust judge who "didn't fear God or respect people" and a persistent widow seeking justice. This widow kept coming to the judge until he finally said, "Even though I don't fear God or respect people because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice so she doesn't wear me out!"

Here's Jesus' point: If an evil judge eventually does what's right because someone is persistent, how much more will God - who is not evil but perfectly good - respond to our persistent prayers?

Let's be honest. It's tempting to give up when you've prayed the same prayer for years with no apparent answer. Life breaks our hearts, forcing us to wrestle with cynicism and confusion.

In those moments, the questions flood in:

• "Did I pray wrong?"
• "Do you not love me enough, God?"
• "Are you actually a good Father?"

In those moments, prayer invites us to trust God's character when everything in us wants to grasp control. Sometimes, faithfulness isn't running a marathon—it's saying, "I'll pray one more time." "I'll hold on for one more day." "I can do today. I don't know about tomorrow, but it's not tomorrow yet."

If you're weary and brokenhearted in prayer today, I have an encouraging truth: God is a collector.

We all collect different things. Some people collect Christmas decorations. Others collect coffee mugs. (I collect sneakers!) But God? He collects two precious things.

In Revelation 5:8, we read that He collects our prayers like precious incense in golden bowls before His throne. In Psalm 56:8, David tells us that God collects our tears in His bottle and records them in His book.

Think about this: Not a single prayer or tear you've shed has been lost on God. He hasn't misplaced one in a move. He has collected every prayer and tear because He sees it all, hears it all, and knows it all.

When you pray like that determined widow, the enemy will whisper that God doesn't care. But Revelation 5 and Psalm 56 remind us that God cares more than we could imagine.

Prayer in these moments becomes our way of saying, "God, I want You here. You may not be showing up or expressing Your power yet like I want, but I will never stop reminding You that I want You here."

Remember what we learned on Day 1? God comes where He's wanted. So keep praying, persisting, and sharing your prayers and tears with God for His bottles and books. Your persistent prayers matter deeply to a Father who cares enough to keep every single one.

It’s been an honor to encourage you with this plan, and I want to keep helping you. Click here for complimentary access to my Persistent in Prayer Action Plan, which includes several tools to help you live out those words: “God, we want you here!”