Scriptures: Luke 18:1-8, 1 Thessalonians 5:17

By any modern measure in the United States, there are signs that the family as we know it is falling apart. We know that there is more violence, more failure, more divorce, more juvenile crime, more television trash today than a generation ago, and these numbers keep growing. At the same time, a Gallup poll reveals that most Americans pray at lance once a week, and the vast majority of Americans believe that prayer is deeply affecting.

Are these two sets of facts at odds, or, as Dr. Merritt explains, do they serve as a reminder to us of the importance of prayer in the home to strengthen it, direct it and bring it back under the authority and wisdom of Almighty God?

"Prayer should be as natural to us as breathing.Now the problem is, some people only pray when they get into trouble, and their attitude is: 'I’ll only call on God when I really need Him.' The prayer that prevails is the prayer that produces.Prayer can open doors that no one can shut, but it may not be at the first knock.That’s why you have got to keep on knocking.Prayer can climb mountains that no man can scale, but it may not be in the first step.That’s why you’ve got to keep on climbing. You need to understand that with God timing is more important than time.You may make instant coffee and instant mashed potatoes, but God does not always manufacture instant answers to our prayers.One of the great lessons I’ve learned about prayer is that God’s delays are not always God’s denials." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: Newsweek magazine, J. Sidlow Baxter, University of Rhode Island, war in the home, continual, without ceasing, mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, home, house, family, World War II, judge, commandments, courthouse, justice, freedom, George Muller, prayer, answer, request, burden, timing, confident, widow, supply, needs, George McCluskey, James Dobson