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This week Wilderness Wanderings is featuring a five-part series called Disruptive by Mr. Rick Verkerk. Today is episode 4.

Disruptive Power

Read Luke 18:1-8

Text: \u201c\u2026when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?\u201d (Luke 18:8)

Do you believe God is only interested in big things?\xa0 Have you ever considered, \u201cWhat is big to God?\u201d\xa0 Nothing is too big or too small for Him. He did, after all, create the Heavens and earth.\xa0 This amazing God also grants us direct connection to Him through prayer. But prayer can disrupt us: some prayers work, some don\u2019t, sometimes God comes through, sometimes He doesn\u2019t seem to.\xa0 This can cause us to lose heart and abandon prayer. If we do, we abandon the very treasure God has given us to move the \u2018mountains\u2019 in front of us.

God wants us to fight for His will and push through when we pray. Elijah was promised rain, but when he prayed nothing happened (1 Kings 18).\xa0 He prayed how many times? \u2026 before his servant saw a cloud. In the New Testament, James refers to him as \u2018a man just like us\u2019 who prayed earnestly (James 5:16-18). Elijah was just like us!

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable about the widow who kept pestering a judge. This is a lesson in persistence in prayer. God wants us to put some \u2018heart\u2019 into it. Communication between two who love each other \u2013 God and you. Prayer is a challenging, spiritual exercise involving commitment, discipline and focus.

There are many hindrances to a strong prayer life: physical fatigue, busyness, wrong motives, interference by the Enemy, previous unanswered prayers or even answers different than expected. To overcome we must be purposeful, intentional, disciplined, and focused on God (not others). We must see prayer as an ongoing, persistently spontaneous dialogue built on trust and love.\xa0 Paul urged the Christians in Thessaloniki to \u2018pray continually\u2019 (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18). Just as our lives experience God\u2019s disruptive grace, we can also experience the disruptive power of prayer.\xa0

How might prayer be an ongoing reality throughout this day for you?\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0