Do you believe enough to pray?

The subject of prayer keeps coming up throughout the gospels. Apparently Jesus’ disciples had a bit of trouble maintaining an active prayer life because even in their last year together here on earth he felt the need to encourage them to maintain the practice on a regular basis. For that purpose Jesus told them the parable of the unjust judge. It goes as follows:
       In a certain city there was a widow who kept bringing her claim to a fiercely independent judge. For a longtime he tried to ignore her, but she continued to plead her case. Finally he was so worn out with her insistence that although he was under no obligation, he decided to see that justice was done. Jesus made this interesting comparison to his disciples: If a judge, devoid of compassion, finally answered a widow’s pleas, what do you imagine a righteous God will do for his people who cry out to him day and night in prayer? Will he not vindicate them even though for the moment he seems to hesitate? 
       Then Jesus adds, “When I return will I find those who believe enough to pray?” This response answers several questions. One is that for God to answer our prayer should we keep making our request whether or not he seems to be doing anything about it. That kind of “stick-to-ed-ness” was seen in my mother’s prayer life. Prior to her passing she had been praying for over twenty years for four members of the larger family group who were not believers. As of now, some fifteen years later, two of the four have opened their hearts to Christ and we are waiting for the other two. I keep wondering whether you can see this sort of thing from heaven.
       The other thing that strikes me about Jesus’ concluding remark is what it says about the Christian faith when history begins to draw to a close? Will it be openly recognized as God’s triumphant victory over sin and Satan or, as Jesus asks, “When I return will I find those who believe enough to pray?” Will the Christian faith be so strong that it will have transformed culture into the Kingdom of God, or so weak that those who have enough faith to keep praying will be hard to find? We know that in the end God wins and Satan loses, but what will be the nature of that win? Will Christians have a jubilant victory parade or be silenced by secular disdain? Will believers “believe enough to pray?” I’m not sure about what will happen here on earth. but I do know that heaven will resound with the triumphant cries of victory. God has won – Satan has lost. That is the essential message of the book of Revelation.
       One final word about prayer. I believe it is not for us to know the secret of effective prayer. All I do know is that we are called to pray as though that were the only answer (and it is) and God will take it from there. It is ours to ask and his to answer. We have no responsibility in the latter category.