Good question!

Luke 18:1-8 NLT

One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. [2] "There was a judge in a certain city," He said, "who neither feared God nor cared about people. [3] A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, 'Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.' [4] The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, 'I don't fear God or care about people, [5] but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'" [6] Then the Lord said, "Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. [7] Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? [8] I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?"

It's a surreptitious sabotage of faith when it seems that the Lord is ignoring our persistent prayers.

It's so easy to get disheartened and give up. That's exactly the strategy of satan. He hates savagely persistent prayers of faith.

Could that be the reason silent prayer is being outlawed in the UK?

The widow, in the story Jesus told, had no alternative but to continually bombard that callous judge. If she had given up she faced destitution.

There were no benefits to fall back on. There was no welfare state to support her. She would have been forced to beg on the streets!

So it was far better to plead before the unjust judge than to be a beggar!

Could it be that I am too comfortable, too complacent and indifferent to maintain "hot" prayers of faith before the Lord?

Jesus is coming back with a "faith detector" - He poses the question: "Will I find faith on the earth?"

O Lord, I want to be found with vibrant, active faith when Jesus returns and not be found blandly watching the telly with my head in the sand.