Persistent Prayer
Luke 18:1-8
We pray about something important or painful. We hope for a response of comfort and understanding but no answer comes. We then ask: “Where is God? Does God care about me?” In the movie, “Oh God, Book II,” a little girl asks George Burns aka God: “Why do bad things happen to us?”
George Burns answers: “That’s the way the system works. Have you ever seen an up, without a down? A front, without a back? A top without a bottom? You can’t have one without the other. I discovered that if I take away sad, then I take away happy, too. They go together.” Then with a smile he adds, “If somebody has a better idea. I hope they put it in the suggestion box.”
Prayer, persistent prayer, continual prayer, a habit of prayer even when God seems to be quiet is an important part of strengthening our relationship with God. Scripture confirms the importance of persistence:
· Ephesians 6:18 - Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
· James 5:16 - The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
· 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Never stop praying.
· Romans 8:26 - We don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
· Romans 12:12 - Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying.
Prayer should be described as the steering wheel on a car guiding us where we need to go. Unfortunately for many of us, prayer is more like the spare tire, seldom used or needed until something goes flat.
When we pray and God seems quiet, we continue to pray and trust God is listening. One pastor wrote: “We sometimes look to God to answer our prayers as if He were the waiter who takes our order and swiftly returns with steaming plates of what we ask for. That is not God’s way. He hears our prayers and responds but in God’s way, in God’s time. Can we trust and accept?”
Persistent prayer is about trusting God to lead and guide us. We seek a deeper relationship. We cling to faith through obstacles and discouragement. God hears our prayers. We are not forgotten. So, through it all, we continue to pray, trusting that God listens and responds in God’s way, in God’s time.
Prayer Challenge: Work on a habit of daily prayer. Stick to it for 30 Days.
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