Persistence in Prayer

Matt. 7:7-8  “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.”

The key to answered prayer is persistence in prayer.  God doesn’t want us to see prayer as a magic lamp that when we rub it we instantly get our wishes.  Prayer that produces results is a persistent process of waiting before the Lord.  So often, we have not because we give up on what we are asking for.  We lack the commitment to the process.  We are instructed to keep at it. 

When we pray, we are seeking God’s favor, not trying to impose our will on His.  We are to desire God to address our concerns according to His will and not ours.  We don’t know what is best for us much of the time.  We lack the wisdom and information God has.  We must trust in the promise of God that He will do what is best for us as we pray.

Persistence in prayer is sometimes needed for our sake.  We need to not waver in our trust in God’s goodness and faithfulness.  We need to develop greater faith and praying faithfully is one way we do that.  We will be persistent with those things which matter the most to us. 

We also need to know that the timing of the Lord is often different than ours.  Sometimes it takes a long time to bring the events of life together in order to see our prayers answered.  Our praying affects many lives and God works in each life in the proper time and way in order to answer our prayers.  Sometimes we don’t ever get to see the results of our praying.  Some prayers take years to answer.  We submit to God’s timing and ways when we pray.

Always remember that God is good, loves us, and desires to do that which is good in our lives always.  We pray in faith and trust that how the Lord answers our prayers is always right, even when He denies us our requests.  Persistent prayer aligns us up with the will of God.