DAY 15: PRAY PERSISTENTLY

Persistent prayer takes faithfulness and patience. Because typically we’re praying about things in our lives that are slow to change. If you’re knocking on the doors of heaven now, in anticipation of God answering a real request in your life, be assured that He hears you. God knows your need, and He cares.

In Luke 11:5–10, Jesus offers an interesting lesson in persistence through a parable: “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Here, Jesus sets the stage for how His followers are to make their requests known to God. He is not suggesting that we must beg God in the sense of forcing His hand. In fact, it is the opposite. Jesus is showing us that God desires to give good things to His children, unlike the man who was reluctant to help his friend.

When the answer to our heartfelt plea is slow in coming we must persevere. Persistent prayer means praying through our doubt, praying through our fears, and refusing to give up. So many times we pray for certain things to happen, when God has a better plan in mind. And so we keep knocking until we receive the direction we need.

Scripture says that God will reward in heaven those who are faithful to pray here on earth,5 because it is these devoted people who have the greatest eternal impact. Praying believers change the destinies of men and women and even the histories of nations. I firmly believe that when we get to heaven, we’ll see countless rewards given to people who never preached from a platform, who were never identified as great leaders, but who prayed faithfully, without fail.