#10 Praying With Persistence

 

   Alvin Vandergriend- Prayer is not always easy. Sometimes it requires serious persistence in the face of great difficulty and delayed answers. God wants us to rise above weakness and become mighty in prayer. The parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:2-8 strikingly illustrates this principle.

  To pray persistently is to press our requests upon God with urgency and perseverance. It means praying boldly and with determination until the answer comes. (Google image, Woman praying outdoors)

   When God delays His answers to prayer, it is always with good reason. Sometimes He does it to deepen our faith and develop our character. Sometimes He does it to test our faith and put it on display. Sometimes He is simply operating according to a divine timetable that seems slow to us. When answers seem slow in coming, it's important to keep trusting and keep asking.

   God has called us to persistent prayer so that His will may be done on earth and His name may be glorified. We may never use prayer for selfish reasons. Prayer is the means by which God accomplishes His purposes and defeats Satan. Through prayer we are involved with God in a grand enterprise. And the going is not always easy.

   George Mueller is a good example of persistence in prayer. He prayed daily for five unsaved friends. One of them came to Christ after five years; two more were converted after fifteen years. The fourth was saved after thirty-five years of prayer, and fifth became a child of God just after Mueller's death.

   Passion in prayer is usually tied closely to perseverance in prayer. Passion does not spring simply from human emotion or earnestness of soul. It's an urgency derived from God who, through His Spirit within us, gives us both the content and the passion of our prayers.

   Weak and feeble praying does not nave the power to overcome difficulties and gain the victory. E. M. Bounds asserted, "Heaven pays little attention to casual requests. God is not moved by feeble desires, listless prayers, and spiritual laziness."

   There is great need today for powerful, persistent prayer. Much is accomplished through persistent prayer that is not accomplished by timid, halting prayers. God has much to accomplish through you -- in your world, in your church, in your family, and in your neighborhood. I urge you to partner with God through passionate, persistent prayer. 

 

Let's pray-

   Father, we know that Your desire is to hear prayers that bring justice for Your chosen ones, who cry to You day and night. (Luke 18:7). We confess our casualness, weakness, feebleness, superficiality, laxity, faintheartedness, and impatience that You may discover as you examine our prayer life.

   We humbly ask for Your Holy Spirit to give us boldness, power, devotion, persistence, and a sense of urgency in our prayer lives. We are thankful for the privilege of partnering with You through prayer in accomplishing Your will here on earth.

   We pray this in Jesus' name, and to His glory. We ask that through Your changing us to become more like Him, we will learn how to pray, for He demonstrated what true praying was like!

Words of wisdom-

Take yourself out of the equation, let God lead in what needs to be done. Do God's business, and He'll take care of yours. Joy comes through obedience to His directions.

Today's Bible verses-

       Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT) “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." 

       Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” 

Quote for today-

~ Debbie Holloway- "God, through commands to his early followers and through his revelation in Christ, clearly values acts and attitudes of kindness and compassion. Believers are consistently exhorted to give, respect, honor, and show humility toward those around us. Perhaps the best model for kindness would, of course, be God himself. Instead of allowing humanity to perish in sin, God pursued us throughout centuries, sent his Son to walk among us, and offers salvation and reconciliation to all freely." 

Today's question-

     What is the result of disobedience to God's laws?

   For the ungodly, it will be conviction of sins, and sensing the guilt of not believing  what they've been told that the Word tells them to do. The godly will have conviction of disobedience and of offending the Holy Spirit within them, of what they know Jesus has said in His Word that they should do.

   If we allow ourselves, as believers, to drift away from Christ and His calling on our lives, we'll tend to forget about all He has done for us, and that He loves us dearly. God's anger can be aroused to bring His children back to obedience, as He has so much planned for each of us.

   May we align our focus on the One who loved us so much that He willingly gave up His very Life for us! May we be aware of anything or anyone who would influence us to be drawn away for obeying Christ Jesus. He will faithfully attempt to pull us back on tract of spending time with Him in prayer and Bible reading.

 


Upcoming posts:

Becoming An Instrument of Revival

   Brian Edwards

#11 Asking For Ourselves

   Alvin Vandergriend

#12 Asking For Good Things

   Alvin Vandergriend

Why Am I Here?

   Mary Southerland

 

The North Country Christian Fellowship Center Churches,

located in the St. Lawrence county of NY,

broadcast their Sunday services at 10 or 10:15

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Sermon listing:https://www.cfconline.org/sermon-library

 

 

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