Persistent Prayer

            There he was on bended knees with half of the church congregation gathered  around him, showing its support.  My friend’s husband was baptized on Sunday after making a public profession of faith. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve witnessed in a long time and I was in tears like many of the others on hand.  They were joyful tears because it was another example of how faithful God is to answer our persistent prayers.   

            My friend prayed  twenty years for her husband to accept Christ. I’m sure she wondered if it would ever happen, but what is worthy of note is she didn’t stop praying, even when year after year passed with no results.   I joined her in prayer somewhere along the way, maybe five years back.  Like my friend, I believed God would answer our supplications, but only in his timing.

So we kept praying and praying and praying.  When God did draw my friend’s spouse to salvation, it was even more special because of the wait and because of the labor. We fought a long battle for her husband’s soul and there was victory.  God heard our prayers and responded to them with a mighty “yes!” Alleluia.

            What prayer have you been clinging to week after week, year after year, with no hint of change in the foreseeable future?

            Don’t stop.  Don’t give up.  Don’t doubt.      

            That’s the way God wants it.  Jesus told his disciples a parable about the persistent widow to teach them to never grow weary of praying. The widow kept asking a judge to give her justice against her adversary.  He kept refusing her.  I wondering how many years the exchange went on. 

            Five years?

            Ten?

            Twenty?

            But eventually the judge gave in to her pleas and granted her justice.

            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? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”     

            Don’t tire of praying. God wants to know you believe he can bring your prayers to fruition. He wants to see your faithfulness in prayer, which may mean lifting up the same request over and over. It means in your heart you know God will answer your prayer one way or the other.

            I am thankful God hears our prayers and I am thankful he often provides answers this side of Heaven.