Persistence In Prayer

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ~ Luke 18:1-7 NIV

Every praying believer must master the discipline of persistence in prayer. Persistence is defined as the fact of continuing in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. It’s the ability to keep pushing even when negative energy seems to be the only thing on your path. It’s swimming against the tide until you get to the shore no matter how difficult the situation in the sea may be. Persistence has the power to cause even the fierce and most stubborn situations and people to lose their fierceness and yield to you. It’s so powerful that it cannot be resisted even by the most difficult situations and people. Someone who is persistent doesn’t give up; they push themselves until they get the desired results. With regard to prayer, it’s praying until you receive an answer or get a release and an assurance that your case has been settled in heaven.

Hannah, for example, prayed persistently until Eli the prophet mistook her for a drunken woman. She explained herself to him and he released a prophetic word over her life. That was the end of her troubles because God answered her prayers. Prophet Elijah’s persistent prayers marked the end of three years drought in Israel. When you are continuing in prayer, steadfastly and without ceasing, you are in real sense being persistent. This means that you are fighting and contending with unseen forces in the spirit realm that are opposed to the will and promises of God over your life. Remember that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of darkness in the spirit realm.

Consider the case of Daniel for example; he began praying and fasting for twenty one days and despite the fact that God released his answer the first day, it didn’t reach him. It was withstood by the prince of Persia, who undoubtedly was an agent of darkness. Daniel did not know there was a principality withstanding his answer. He was pushing to get his prayers answered. As he persisted in the place of prayer, God’s angel was contending with the prince of Persia until the twenty first day, there was a breakthrough.

After teaching His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gave them a practical example;

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need ~ Luke 11:5-8 NIV

Our persistence in prayer should be borne out of our desperation for help. The man in the above scripture was desperate for help. He had a visiting friend and nothing to offer him. Yet he knew that he had another friend who could help him out. So he went to him and asked for three loaves of bread. This man wasn’t ready to wake up from his sleep to give his friend what he wanted, but Jesus added that even if not because of their friendship, yet because of his shameless audacity, he would surely get up and give him as much as he needed. It’s the same for us when you know that you are in dire need of help and you know for sure that there is a particular person that can help you out, and he won’t deny you. First because of the relationship you have and secondly because he has the capacity or he is in a position to help you out.

Our desperation to have our desires met is one of the keys to our persistence in prayer. It’s not easy to pray and someone has said that prayer is hard labor. Not many of the praying believers have the capacity to hold on and keep pushing until they receive their answer or until they hear from God. But hear me today, there is a need for persistence in prayer. It’s in our persistence that we are able to overcome obstacles and build our spiritual muscles as long as we don’t give up. They bring out the best in us, strengthen and toughen us, build our inner strength and make us become more qualified for God’s blessings.