June 18, 2026 Devo

There was a guy named Luke Wintrip who really wanted to marry his girlfriend, Sarah. So he finally got up the courage to pop the question. She said, “No.” He was stunned and heartbroken. She told him that she had only known him for six months, and though she thought she loved him, she didn’t want to commit to something that she would later regret. That sounded semi-reasonable to Luke, so they kept dating. Sometime later, he asked her again. And again, she said, “No.” But Luke was determined.
Luke began to plan exotic trips and took Sarah to amazing places. From renting out a castle in Prague to taking her horseback riding on a beach in Jamaica, he tried to show her the full extent of his love. Over the course of SEVEN years, he proposed to her 43 times. Finally, on the 43rd time, she said, “Yes.” She told people, "He should probably get a Guinness World Record. I am grateful he persisted for so long."
I thought of that story when I read our passage today. Do we pray with the same passion and love that Luke had? Do we care about reaching our loved ones for God so deeply that we refuse to quit praying, even when they reject our invitations to church over and over again? Do we believe so passionately and deeply that God hears, God cares, and God answers that we cry out relentlessly for healing, deliverance, and breakthroughs that we believe are so desperately needed? In Luke 18:1, it says, “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.” God is moved by passionate prayers. God is moved when our hearts latch on and won’t let go. God is moved when His People care enough to seek Him day after day after day because they believe that God alone has the answer they seek. God is moved by prayers of persistence.
Isaiah had a vision of a new Jerusalem. He had a vision of a people who were righteous, holy, and faithful. Isaiah believed with all of His heart that God was the only one who could transform Israel into the country that it longed to be. And Isaiah loved his people with the same tenacious love that Luke loved Sarah. Isaiah declared that he would never stop praying until he saw it come to pass. May God help us love like Luke and pray like Isaiah! That’s God’s Word for you today.