Continuing to Pray (1 Samuel 12:23)

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

1 Samuel 12:23

Tucked away at the end of Samuel’s farewell address, after the Nation of Israel had rejected his leadership and chosen their own leader on clearly human grounds, is this little gem. He declares that failure to pray is to sin against the LORD. So, despite this dismissal, he declares he will continue to pray for this recalcitrant people.

I wonder how many of us are guilty of this sin? How many of us, when our outreach is rejected, metaphorically wash our hands of the situation? Think how often Paul vows to cease not his prayers for his converts? But do we realize it is a sin to cease in our prayers?

So let us never neglect our prayers, despite their sometimes apparent lack of success.