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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?” Luke 18:1-8

Persisting or enduring in spite of opposition.

The difficulties and struggles of your relationship are going to tempt you to give up. The evil one is going to flood your mind with thoughts like, “Does God even love me? This is never going to get better. I can’t keep doing this!” Never stop praying. Never stop believing. Never stop hoping in Jesus.

So how does Jesus want you to love others?

Never give up praying for them. The key word is persevere. 

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4

Even the most talented people may not get it right the first time. In a 1995 interview ex-Beatle Paul McCartney said he once wrote a song with the first line “Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs.” Have you ever heard that song? Not likely. McCartney tossed those words and wrote, “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.” Since then “Yesterday” has played on the radio more than six million times, more than any other record in history. “Yesterday” also happens to be McCartney’s favorite song. The difference between failure and success—between “Scrambled Eggs” and “Yesterday”—is persistence.