Persistence
I’m not sure if you’re like me and sometimes find yourself thinking “I know God must be tired of me coming to him in prayer for the same things”. I know at times for me it can feel redundant and even cause me to think maybe I should stop asking and boring him with this same request or worse begin to feel guilty for continually asking. I’ve come across content that can sometimes be discouraging because they condemn us for seeking God and having prayers that focus on our request. They condemn us for our desires and preach that our request should always be focused on the needs of others, for the saving of those who are lost, etc. I one hundred percent agree that we should not only be concerned with ourselves and our prayer life should definitely include time to pray for others, the state of our world, and for all to come into the knowledge of Christ and accept him as lord of their life. However, putting others first and lifting others up in prayer should not eliminate time for our own needs and desires.
Now I want to add a disclaimer that when I say desires I am speaking of having desires that align with God’s will for our lives. Ultimately, we should be asking God to make our desires align with what he desires for us. When doing so, we can be sure that our desires are based on righteousness and will see the hand of God at work in our lives. Psalm 37:4 tells us, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." When your main focus is on walking with the Lord and living a life that is pleasing unto him, your mind, body, and soul will begin gravitating towards the righteous things of God instead of the flesh. Think of the fruit you see in the lives of those who have truly surrendered their lives to Christ. It appears they have everything their heart desires from a natural point of view. To the world they see the house, car, family, money, etc., but those are just the byproduct of a life sold out completely to the father. That individual would most likely tell you that those materialistic things pale in comparison to the relationship they’ve built with Christ.
Since I have now clarified the desires we should be focused on, let's jump into the main topic of this blog which is persistence. There are many instances throughout scripture where we are told to pray always and should be persistent in what we ask. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says “Pray without ceasing” and in Luke 18:1 “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up”. In Matthew 15 we see a mother going to Jesus persistently for healing of her daughter who was possessed and because of her faith and persistence Jesus healed her. In Luke 8 we see a woman healed of a 12 year blood issue because of her persistence to simply touch the hem of Jesus' garment. Her determination to get in his presence caused her to be healed of her issue of blood. Going back to the parable Jesus told the disciples in Luke 18 about the persistent widow we see clearly that God approves of the persistent believer. The widow continually went to the unfair judge with her request for protection against her enemy, though she was denied at first she kept going to the judge with her request ultimately being granted what she desired. If Jesus uses this as an example to the disciples, we should find comfort in knowing that the Lord wants us to continue bringing our needs before him. The last example I want to share with you all is in Daniel 10;12-13. To summarize, Daniel had gone to God in prayer because he’d seen a vision of hard times and conflict coming. After TWENTY ONE days the angel came to Daniel and told him that from day one the Lord heard his prayer and the angel had been en route to him, but got held up in a spiritual battle and finally made it to him after Michael the archangel came to help him. That means for THREE WEEKS Daniel remained steadfast in his prayer and fasting to the Lord. Imagine if in all of the accounts I just shared with you each of these individuals gave up or listened to outside opinions of what they could or couldn’t go to the father for.
I pray that this blog has brought much needed encouragement and has given you hope in whatever waiting period you are in. I know this revelation has helped me tremendously in my prayer life. Hebrews 4:16 tell us “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”. This is a reminder of the authority that has been given to us as believers when bringing our needs, desires, and requests to the feet of Jesus. I want to leave you with the challenge and reminder to ask God to transform your wants and desires to things that align with his will for your life and watch how he will begin to show up in your day. I will leave below a few scriptures of what you can expect when you put faith behind the things you are seeking God for. Be blessed!
Scriptures to encourage you to be persistent & have faith for what you’re praying for!
Mark 11:24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
Matthew 21:22 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."
James 1:6 “ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
Written By: Amber Alycee
Photo Attribution: <a href="https://www.vecteezy.com/free-photos/not-giving-up">Not Giving Up Stock photos by Vecteezy</a>