Praying for Twenty Years

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they

should always pray and not give up.”

Luke 18:1 (NIV)

     “Twenty years. He prayed for me for twenty years,” the man told me as he spoke of an older gentleman that he knew. I could only shake my head as he continued. “When he met me, he knew that I needed Jesus. So he wrote my name in the margin of his Bible, along with three other names. And he prayed. For twenty years.”

     He told me that he was doing some work for this man at the time and added “I didn’t know Jesus and I didn’t care. But I couldn’t help but watch him because he was different.” I had to ask. “How was he different?” “He prayed over mashed potatoes. He would take off his hat and thank the Lord for his lunch of cold mashed potatoes. Things like that. Being thankful for what he had.”

He then told me that when he finally gave his life to the Lord, he visited the older gentleman to let him know. “And do you know what he did? He got out his Bible and showed me where he had written my name, twenty years earlier. But then he did something else: he wrote SAVED beside my name.” He slowly shook his head.
 
“Two weeks ago he became very sick and was in the hospital so I went to see him. He gave me a card. On it he had written the names of the other people he had been praying for and asked me to continue to pray for those men just as he had been doing all these years. And I will. As long as it takes. Even twenty more years.”

     That gentleman surely had memorized Luke 18:1. He never gave up and was always in prayer for those on his list. Sometimes I grow impatient when I have been praying for someone for a few days or weeks and my prayer isn’t answered. But twenty years?! Can you imagine his joy at being able to write SAVED beside one of the names on his list after all that time?

I cannot begin to tell you how much this man’s testimony has encouraged me to keep praying for those I love who do not have a relationship with Jesus. What about you? Do you have someone that you have lifted up to the Lord for years and have yet to see a change? I urge you to never give up and never quit praying. Because, when you think about it, what is twenty years compared to eternity?


     Father, your word says that I should always pray and not give up. Please help me to be faithful in praying for the lost, no matter how long it takes. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect
• What is the longest time that you have prayed for the salvation of someone you know?

• How does that compare with today’s prayer time of twenty years? Longer or shorter?

Apply
• Journal the names of people you know who are without Jesus and the date that you began praying for them.

• Write today’s Scripture beside each one to remind you to always be in prayer for that person, no matter how long it takes. Write SAVED when your prayer is answered.

Power 
• Luke 18:1 (NIV) “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

• Romans 12:12 (NIV) “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

• I Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV) “. . . pray continually . . .”