Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
                                                                                    -Luke 18:1
 
Here’s one secret I’ve discovered in talking with people about their prayer lives: nobody feels like they pray enough.
 
I feel it.  And sometimes I wonder if that’s a referendum on my overall spiritual vitality. If I really loved Jesus, wouldn’t I naturally want to pray all the time? And what does it mean if I don’t?
 
I appreciate that the Scriptures don’t over-spiritualize the spiritual journey. Here, Jesus is telling his closest disciples that they will at various times need to employ some level of effort and deliberate willpower to always pray and not give up.
 
The implication, of course, is that those disciples will at times be tempted to give up on praying. That sounds just like me.
 
So if you don’t feel like praying today what does that mean about you?
 
Good news: it doesn’t mean anything about you other than you’re normal. Run your race. Don’t over-spiritualize it or get all caught up in the comparison trap. Maybe you need to start here: Always pray. Don’t give up.
 
Prayer might not come naturally. That’s okay. Always pray, don’t give up. You might not see anything happen right away. That’s okay. Always pray, don’t give up.
 
Other people might sound better than you. That’s okay. Jesus isn’t asking you to sound like anyone else.  God didn’t give you a voice so that you could try your best to sound like some other voice.  He gave you your own voice for a reason.  One of those reasons he makes explicit right here: always pray, don’t give up.
 
And just know that most all of us from time to time need the reminder from Jesus to do this—to always pray and not give up.
 
What do you think is the appropriate role of willpower in spiritual growth? What do you think it looks like to always pray and not to give up?