Persevering in Prayer
By Alexis A. Goring
Bible Reading:
“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.” — Matthew 7:7 AMP
Have you ever felt that you hear radio silence when you are praying and trying to hear a response from God?
Have you ever thought that you may as well stop praying about what’s on your heart because God doesn’t seem to care?
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by the trials and storms of life that you have been wearing out your knees over all the time you spent petitioning God for a miracle?
Today, I want to encourage you to not give up! Learn to persevere in prayer. God has given us the gift of prayer. It is the completely free and original wireless communication, our way of taking our prayers to God’s Throne in Heaven without leaving Earth. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV), “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” God wants to hear from us!
I’ve heard several Christians over the years refer to Jeremiah 33:3 as “God’s phone number.” Let’s read the verse. Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV) says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” I think they call this verse “God’s phone number” because when you want to hear from God, you open the Bible and read His Word. All Scripture is written so we can hear from God. But when you turn to Jeremiah 33:3 specifically, it feels like calling God on the telephone. The Bible says when we call out to God, He will answer.
However, what do you do when you cry out to God and cannot hear Him respond?
Well, they also say that you cannot say God is silent if your Bible is closed. This means God is always ready to speak to you and the main way we can communicate with God is by reading His Word. As you do this, you are training your ears to hear from Him. So that when you pray (talk) to God, you are familiar with His Voice, and you know when He is speaking to you.
But what do you do when you have already read the Bible and practiced pouring out your heart to God, yet you receive no response? How do you keep hope alive and continue trusting God when you’re waiting on a breakthrough that hasn’t come through yet? A prayer that God hasn’t yet answered. What if you have persisted in prayer over an issue that was tearing you up inside, for years or decades and yet that situation doesn’t get better—in fact, it gets worse?
The answer is a song title by Matthew West: “Don’t Stop Praying!” The song opens with West asking the listener what situation in their life seems impossible. He asks what miracle you are seeking from God. West shows compassion for those who are barely hanging on. He understands despair. He also understands the discouragement and doubt that comes with not receiving answers to your prayers when you think you needed it most.
However, West encourages the listener with a glimmer of hope when he encourages them to not stop praying to God and seeking Him for the answers we need. We may not know why God seems to delay His responses to us, but we can trust that He hears our every prayer. Remember: God’s timetable is very different than ours, as are His thoughts. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
What does this mean? I believe it means that God will always answer our prayers in a good way when He knows the time is right (Isaiah 60:22). Meanwhile, we can rest in the fact that God is Sovereign and trustworthy. He always has our best interest at heart because He is our Heavenly Father, and His plans for us are for good (Jeremiah 29:11). He wants to give us good gifts (Matthew 7:11), and He promises to answer our prayers according to His will.
Whatever request you made known to God, be encouraged that He hears you and He will answer your prayers. Hang in there and don’t stop praying (Matthew 7:7).
Intersecting Faith and Life:
How does it feel to know that God hears your every prayer? Have you tried persevering in prayer and trusting God to answer?
Further Reading:
Philippians 4:6
Mark 11:24
Matthew 6:6
Colossians 4:2
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Kamonwan Wankaew
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