My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make music.
~Psalm 57:7~
Do you admire persistence in your children? How about when they just keep asking and asking and asking? Sometimes they just won't take "no" for an answer. What do you do when your child keeps saying, "please, please, pretty please?"
I started thinking about perseverance and faith as I was reading about Elijah. He has just had the confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. It hadn't rained for three years, but God told Elijah that He was going to send the rain. Elijah sent King Ahab home, then he went to the top of Mt. Carmel to pray. (1 Kings 18:41-46) After praying, he told his servant to go and look towards the sea. The servant looked, then came back and said that there was nothing there. Six times Elijah sent his servant to look towards the sea, and six times the report was the same.
What would you do at this point?
Have you ever prayed and prayed about something? What do you do if the answer doesn't come the first or second time you pray? Do you give up or do you persevere?
Jesus taught persevering in prayer. In Luke chapter eleven, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, known as The Lord's Prayer. Then He gave the illustration of the man who we to his neighbor in the middle of the night asking for food. Jesus said that because the man was persistent in asking, the neighbor answered his request.
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened.
Luke 11:9,10
God doesn't want us to give up and stop praying. If we are praying according to His will, then we can be sure He will answer. Elijah can testify to that. The seventh time the servant looked out at the sea, he saw a cloud the size of a man's fist. The rain was coming.
Do you see the cloud?
Lisa, persistent prayer is something I have always struggled with. I tend to pray for something a couple times and then forget. I forget that God blesses our perseverance. Thank you for the reminder to be faithful in prayer.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! And yes the kids constant asking and pleading...UGH. Sometimes when I feel like God hasn't answered I realize that he wants me to wait for His best instead of settling for mine. Even though what I think might be good, His way is always great!
ReplyDeleteI have done this before. Pray for something then after not hearing after only a prayer or two, I stop. That is not right. I should P.U.S.H. Praying Until Something Happens. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis post so spoke to me today, for the last year I having been praying and then looking for the cloud. Sometimes I have just wanted to stop praying for that particular thing because it just seems as if He doesn't want to answer that one. Thank you for the great reminder to keep going.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you Lisa.