Persistent prayer (5)

What happens when you pray, full of expectation, and... nothing happens?

Jesus tells the parable of the friend who asks for bread (Luke 11:5-8)
and the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-11)
to teach his disciples to always pray and to not give up.

Yet because of your shameless audacity
he will surely get up and give you as much as you need                - Luke 11:8-9

Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones,
who cry out to him day and night?"                                               - Luke 18:7

Jesus' conclusion in both cases is clear and unavoidable:
persistent pray-ers are heard and their prayers are answered.

And this principle of persistence is found throughout the bible:

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.        - Psalm 40:1

LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.    - Psalm 88:1

Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.        - Psalm 116:2

They all joined together constantly in prayer.                                             - Acts 1:14


George Muller's autobiography is rich with testimony of the faithfulness of God
in honoring the earnest and persistent pray-er.

Though my own experience pales in comparison to his I can testify to this myself;
I have seen God go far above and beyond what I have asked of him
in the two things I have offered up to God regularly over the past two years.

Having seen the faithfulness of my God in this way, truly I can say
"I love the Lord, for he heard my voice!" (Ps. 116:1);
and surely this is the most effective of motivations for prayer.

The word of God and the saints through the ages implore us:
pray expectantly and persistently, and you will see God do miraculous things.


To that end, are five simple ways we can work towards persistent prayer:

1. Commit to praying for three people in your life daily for a period of time (e.g. a month)
2. Meditate on relevant scriptures, (e.g. Gen. 32, Lk. 11, Lk. 18, 2 Cor. 12,  Col. 1, 1 Thess. 3)
3. Find a prayer partner and regularly pray for the same things together
4. Ask older friends in the faith to tell stories of the fruit of persistent faith
5. Read relevant books, e.g. celebration of discipline - Foster; the autobiography of... - Muller

May God make you as persistent in prayer as a desperate widow and as a friend in need,
Jeff :)