A society surrounded by the convenience of instant everything, brings a slow death to the tenacious spirit. Many people want prayers answered before their lips stop moving, unfortunately, many times, it doesn’t happen that way. The scriptures teach us in Colossians 4:2, “to continue earnestly in prayer,” and in Romans 12:12, it says “continuing steadfastly in prayer.” We are exhorted to be persistent in our prayer life. Jesus shares a parable in Luke 18:1-8, driving home the point of persistent prayer. It says, “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily…” When I was young, I was told that if I asked or prayed for something more than once I would be
Many people want prayers answered before their lips stop moving, unfortunately, many times, it doesn’t happen that way
praying in unbelief. That’s totally contrary to scripture! The continual knocking or coming to the judge brought the widow’s answer. The Bible does say in James 1:6-8, that we must have faith when we pray, but being continuously in prayer doesn’t mean you have unbelief. On the contrary, I think it indicates that you do have faith in God. Your action of continual asking shows you believe He will answer. I like what Marilyn Hickey says, “Prayers are like seeds that are watered daily. Different ones take different lengths of time to sprout and to grow.” If you think about the farmer’s process, he plants his seed then waters it day after day until he sees a sprout breaking through the soil. The farmer is like the diligent believer who plants his seed and then through continual prayers of faith waters it until the answer breaks through and comes to pass. Keeping with this analogy, if praying continually is wrong then the farmer watering his seed daily would also be wrong. Let’s look at I Kings 18:41-45. We see Elijah telling Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of an abundance of rain.” Then Elijah went to the top of Mt. Carmel to pray. That’s when this story gets very interesting. After Elijah prayed, he sent
“Prayers are like seeds that are watered daily. Different ones take different lengths of time to sprout and to grow.”
his servant to look for rain clouds. Six times his servant checked and didn’t see anything, Elijah continued in prayer. The scriptures say, “Then it came to pass the seventh time that he said, ‘There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!’ The downpour from that small cloud broke three and a half years of drought. This all happened because Elijah wouldn’t quit praying—he had faith to be steadfast in prayer. Living a life of prayer will always be a life of adventure and power. Ephesians 6:18 tells us, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication … with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” In other words be tenacious and persistent in prayer. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see the answer to your prayers immediately. Keep knocking on Heaven’s door.
The trumpeters and the music began to sound causing the people to immediately scurry to the place before the idol and bow in a fearful submission. These Chaldeans and many foreigners that had been taken in war-conquests fell to their faces out of fear of the king’s command. (Dan 3:4-6) The consequences for those who remained standing would be thrown into the fiery furnace.
David brings his resume up before the fearful King of Israel in 1 Sam 17:34-35. The young shepherd boy responds to the king’s question saying, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth… and struck and killed it. We also read that earlier David was nearly passed over by the prophet Samuel as a prospect to be anointed as future King because he was out tending the families’ sheep (1 Sam 16:11). The Reality is that David had much experience as a shepherd in his life.
Not everyone can say they have been bucked off a horse during their life. Well, it would seem that not only was it a “right of passage” in my upbringing but it was something that happened more than once. Even though my father had a talent for training and breaking horses. I had just the opposite effect on them. Whatever the reason might have been, whether the horse was ornery, poorly synched or just a wild hair, I’ve landed on the ground more than I would like to admit. But my father’s words
How many times have you had someone come to you who are going through a difficult time and said, “I am running out of strength”? Whether it is relational, financial or spiritual, we have all probably given out so much we have found ourselves running on empty.
During the beautiful summer nights most kids enjoy playing hide and seek in their neighborhoods or at family gatherings. I am sure you were also raised playing this popular game throughout your childhood.
Bill Virgin Blog - Leave room for Cream 