Parable of the Persistent Friend

In this parable, Jesus illustrates persistence and perseverance in prayer. Unlike the sleeping friend, God is not reluctant to answer our prayers, but He does want us to be diligent and patient in our requests.

Though the widow speaks only five words in this encouraging parable, she provides Christians in these last days with an example of persistence in prayer.

Persistence in prayer does not mean an incessant pestering God into action. God always looks at our petitions from the vantage-point of His purpose.

Richard Ritenbaugh focuses upon an inspiring incident in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, in which a runner, Derek Redmond, who had previously dropped out of competition because of an injured Achilles tendon, had another setback, a pulled hamstring, causing hi. . .

Martin Collins, reflecting on the practice of "defriending" (or "unfriending") on Facebook, contrasts this practice with Christ's love for His called-out ones, a friending with the condition that godly fruit is born. When Paul challenge. . .

An explanation of Luke 11:9, Ask, seek, knock.

Martin Collins, acknowledging that we are continually bombarded with distractions that can prevent our contact with Almighty God, gives us a means to maintain spiritual contact, using David's tactic of continually and forcefully maintaining the Lord before. . .

John Ritenbaugh demonstrates that both the popular 'eternal security doctrine' and the 'no works doctrine' held by many mainstream Protestant organizations are destroyed by the remarkable example of Noah, who, by the generous grace of God, performed extrao. . .

What many religious people do not seem to understand is that justification before God is just the beginning of something far more involved—and that is living by faith. John Ritenbaugh covers the faithful life and work of Noah, illustrating that walki. . .

John Ritenbaugh reveals that the valley-of-shadow imagery symbolizes the fears, frustrations, trials, and tests needed to produce character, quality fruit, and an intimate trust in the shepherd. His rod, an extension of his will and strength, serves not on. . .