8. Pray Earnestly

Earnest prayer refuses to give in to the status quo: the injustice, the sin, the idolatry and the evil that threatens to overwhelm us. Earnest prayer insists on the full coming of the kingdom because there is nothing better…. Now that Christ has brought the kingdom, faith in God implies faith in Christ. Earnestness in prayer is not a matter of mustering any strength we might have in ourselves. To “earnestly seek him” is nothing more than to look away increasingly from self to Christ and his righteousness, to the promises of God in Christ that he will bring us into the fullness of the kingdom. The problem is that it’s very easy to start looking to ourselves instead of looking to Christ in faith, especially in the face of challenges that loom like immovable mountains. The flesh tempts us to give up. The culture around us tempts us to give in to the status quo and its societal point system. As we begin to look to ourselves, as we begin to give in to the status quo of our culture, our sense of urgency, earnestness and fervency dissipates. We settle for less. We lose sight of the inestimable value of the kingdom. When you are tempted to give up in prayer, look away from yourself and look to Christ—what he has done and what he promises to do.