Praying with Persistence

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You pray day and night with deep faith, but God does not seem to hear you. You remain jobless, your friend remains seriously ill and the man of your dreams is nowhere in sight. What should you do?

You may think you should do nothing because if you continue praying, God may think you lack faith. Or you may think that God is teaching you the virtue of patience so you should just accept His silence with stoic resignation.

Continuing to pray longer and harder, you hope (not trust) that God will eventually answer those prayers. Jesus implied persistence in the parable of the man who kept knocking on his neighbor’s door in the middle of the night asking for bread, until the neighbor got up and gave him the bread to make him go away (Luke 11: 5-8). His persistent action produced the desired response. In the parable about the widow, she kept returning to an unjust judge begging for justice. She wore away at him until he relented and granted justice (Luke 18: 2-5).

On the surface, it seems that you have to literally nag God and He will eventually answer and grant your heart’s desire. Pray persistently and you will get what you want. But is this really what Jesus was saying? Will God give you what you asked for just to get rid of you so that He could attend to the countless others who demand His attention?

You know God is all loving. Jesus personifies the character of God in the flesh. The Bible shows various accounts of Him being prepared to help the needy and showing compassion towards them. God always hears and answers prayers. The immediate response to a prayer may be a resounding ‘Yes.’ At other times you receive a negative response despite persistent prayer and the patience you believe you exhibit as the wait continues.

Still, have no doubt that God wants you to pray persistently. Why? Let’s look at the life of the apostle Paul. He had what he referred to as “a thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). He didn’t say what it was but it must have been a chronic and debilitating problem which at times kept him from doing his work. He prayed more than once for God to take this ‘thorn’ away. But did he get what he prayed for? No!

Paul got something better. Paul prayed persistently with faith and heard God’s voice. Paul learned God’s will in his life. God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”(2 Corinthians: 9) Paul realized that his ‘thorn in the flesh’ prevented him from being conceited. Paul had many wonderful spiritual experiences and developed great preaching prowess and it was difficult not to brag. The ‘thorn’ kept him humble. Paul was aware of his weaknesses and knew that his achievements were gifts from God and not of his own making.

Returning to God in prayer keeps the lines of communication open. It allows God the opportunity to communicate with you. The silence of prayer provides the opportunity for you to hear God speak. Many times it is after praying that the words no longer come. This is the time, when you stop talking, that you will hear God in the silence.

Persistent prayer affords God the opportunity to give you the solutions you seek through the silence. You may have your own idea of what the solution should be, which guides you as you continue to pray. Your solution may not be God’s answer to the problem at hand. There are times when God bends your will and allows the broken spirit to step forward. It is in times of prayer that you soon realize that letting go is the answer that lets God work miracles in your life. God will reshape your desires and show the sensible resolution.

Hence, pray persistently not because you think that by doing so you will eventually get what you want, but because by doing so you are keeping your communication lines with God active which is what He wants. Don’t lose heart. Keep on praying. Otherwise, you will miss out on a great opportunity, that is, allowing God to work through you, in you and with you.

Pray for the right reasons and experience His presence, experience His goodness, experience His mercy and experience His power in your life!