Short article – Forever prayer

Lately, I have been discouraged to pray.
Why?
Because I have seen no results of my prayer.

I pray to God, which is invisible. I do not get His answer immediately, like if you talk on the phone. It makes everything even more complicated. I imagine when I am on the phone with a friend, and then I share something to her. It is very nice because she replies and responds to my story. It is funny when I call my parents back home, or call Bang Tepy. Sometimes I keep on talking and then I realize that I don’t get any replies. I will shout “Hallo,.. hallo,.. anybody there?”

It is annoying, isn’t it, when you keep talking without any responses.

Thus, it is difficult, sometimes, to pray to God, because He doesn’t respond immediately. I wouldn’t hear His voice shouting calmly from Heaven “Nia, do not worry.”

I faced difficulty lately to pray because, first, I felt that God was not answering; he probably even didn’t hear my prayers. Second, I was very tired of praying. If I sum up all of my prayers concerning my situations (and my family’s), in my opinion, it will be like hundreds or thousands of prayers – with no answers. I was very tired of praying the same prayer, like you sing the same song.

In my deepest moment, I have ever felt that God has forsaken me, forsaken my family. A couple days ago, when I accidentally watched ‘Sex and the City’ during my dinner alone, I heard a guy saying “probably, God has forgotten our address”. That was exactly what I felt! I felt that God might forget me,.. forget my family.

This story was about last week. I think, God has comforted me in such a way that became calmer and tried to surrender my burden.

And,..
This morning,…

I went to church.

The sermon was about analyzing the Lord’s prayer, and this morning we studied “..on earth, as it is in Heaven.”. We tried to answer what that sentence supposed to mean.

I will share about it another time, but, one thing I want to share is when Gerard Kelly, my pastor, shouted, “How long do you still need to pray? How long should you pray? You pray until it is done, until it is finished, until God answers your prayer! So we don’t just give up!” He linked this to Jacob, when he asked God’s blessing “Like Jacob, he said that he would not let go until God blessed him. Now, you can also say I will not let go until it is done!”

Yes, here it is.
It is a new spirit for me. It is like God has poured a new energy, a new spirit of praying.

I will end this article with an encouragement, to you, all of you. I know it is difficult, to keep on praying, pleading, and asking to God. Yet, we know, God exists. Jesus said, if you ask something in father’s name, it will be given to you. So,.. we know, if we pray, He will give something we pray, to us, in His time.

Thus,..
Just keep on praying. It may take an hour, a week, a month, a year, a decade, or even longer, but just trust in His unfailing love, in His promise.

Tired of praying?
Remember that if we pray, keep on praying, we will receive what we ask. If you have prayed, and become tired,… don’t! We have run half-way through,.. we are running towards the finish-line. If you stop praying, it means you quit from the game. Once again, keep on praying, the finish-line is in front of us.