P is for Persistent - 13 Prayers

P is for Persistent is the latest post in my 2019 series Prayer A to Z. You can find the other posts here.

Our prayers must be Persistent.

In an Instant-Answer world

One of the most troubling things about our society today is our need for instant gratification. We have cell phones so we can call whenever the notion hits us. We can microwave our food. Is your crock pot too slow? Try an instant cooking pot instead. Don’t go to the library for research – don’t even search the Internet from your home computer. You can look things up on your phone from your car.

So we may be tempted to get irritated when our prayers don’t get insta-answers. Ps. 40:1 says, “I waited patiently for the LORD, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.” Something tells me this wasn’t a single cry. It was a Persistent one. But the writer kept on believing for an answer and then one came.

Sure, that’s tough to do. But in Ps. 27:14, we are told to “wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the LORD.”

And how is it possible to just wait? Because He is our source of HOPE. “For I put my HOPE in you, LORD, you will answer me, my LORD, my God.” (emphasis mine.) God hears. He has our best in mind, and He’s eager to give it to us. But as my pastor recently reminded us, sometimes, we don’t get what He wants to give us (yet) because we are not strong enough to hold onto it. You see, the enemy wants to get his hands on it, too, so we can’t have it. We have to be ready to take hold of it and go forward without losing our grip.

What does “Persistent” look like?

It looks like the BFF in Luke 11:5-10. A buddy shows up at midnight. Hungry. And asks for food. You have nothing. So you ask a neighbor. But they try to send you away. If you keep on, your neighbor will open the door. Ask, seek, knock. (see also Luke 11:6-13)

It looks like constant prayer from Eph 6:18. “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints” or 1 Thess. 5:17’s “pray constantly.”

Don’t give up.

Some days it’s tough to be persistent. You feel like you’re walking up the down escalator, and there’s no end in sight. But you never know when you are one day away from the breakthrough.

Wouldn’t you feel silly if you quit now and your answer was only 1 more prayer away?

Abba Father, give us the boldness to carry on day by day. To pray bigger prayers. See You in bigger ways. To hang on to Your promises because You only have good in mind for Your children. Help us to be Persistent in a way that demonstrates Your unfailing love to a world that cannot see.