Life's Inanities and Ironies

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”   —Luke 18:1 (KJV) Our Lord Jesus did not begin this familiar parable with a story. He began with a purpose. Before the widow ever stood before the unjust judge, Christ told His disciples *why* the parable was being given: that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. That single verse sets the entire tone. Prayer is not presented as an emergency measure or a last resort. It is presented as the normal, continual posture of the believer. The place of prayer is not first a geographic location—though a quiet closet is a blessed thing—but a settled determination of the heart that refuses to quit. Always Pray The word “always” leaves no room for seasons of spiritual neglect. It does not mean we are to walk about with our eyes closed and our lips moving every waking moment. It means that the channel between the believer and the throne of grace is never to be shut down. Communion with ...

If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you know this trial well. You poured out your heart in prayer—for healing, for a prodigal child, for financial deliverance, for the salvation of a loved one, for direction in a dark valley—only to hear… silence. Not for weeks. Not for months. For years. Sometimes decades. The enemy whispers, “God doesn’t care. He has forgotten you.” The world mocks your faith. Yet the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, gives one clear, unchanging answer: **long waiting is not divine neglect—it is divine design.** God’s people have always waited. And in that waiting, He forges faith that cannot be shaken. The Patriarchs: Twenty-Five Years of Waiting on a Promise Abraham was seventy-five when God promised him a son who would become a great nation (Genesis 12:4). Twenty-five years passed—through famine, doubt, and the tragic mistake of Hagar—before Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old. Scripture records: “And so, after he had patien...