Biblical Posts

Persevere In Prayer

Persevere in Prayer.

Luke 11:1-13
ESV
The Lord's Prayer
11 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,
4 and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 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’? 8 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. 9 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. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Many times we give up too early.

Some prayers we pray are seeds for tomorrow. We have a God called the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8). This God we serve is a God who knows all things. He knows the future from the present.

God often works in ways we cannot see. He is moving, changing, renewing, building and crafting things, doors etc in our lives that we don't often see. We don't always realise what is happening spiritually when we pray but there is a lot that goes on. It can just take time for the physical manifestation to appear but spiritually everything is set.

That's why the bible encourages us to walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) because when we walk by sight it can be difficult for us to trust God. After all, we are relying on what we see to determine our reliance and trust in Him.

1) Keep praying for wisdom, confirmation and answers from God.

How seeking wisdom is one you shall never give up, answers, direction etc. God is willing but so many times we aren't as desperate to seek God's direction.

Because that's perseverance but it's also desire. The desire to want to know God's will attracts God. His already so close but maybe His waiting how desperately do you want to hear from Him? Sometimes we pray but then rely on our own understanding. When we pray like we could die without God, as if God is all that matters, it's those crazy prayers that you'll begin to see in the Bible.

We should never stop asking for God's wisdom, confirmation and direction. These are very important that without them we can easily go the wrong path. No matter how limited the time is or how long you've been asking, keep asking God for these key things. God will answer one way or another.

2) In Perseverance Your Motives Change

When we persevere, our motives change as well. When we first want something, our motives can be very self-centred. Maybe someone's desire is marriage, at first, you wanted to get married for only yourself. The more the times passed, soon you didn't want to just get married but now you want to get married to serve God, to share life with someone, help someone else's life, and partner to encourage each other in the Lord.

Your motives now changed and conformed more and more to God's will. I noticed the more God delayed giving my requests, after a while, I realized my motives would change bit by bit. It would become more and more selfless as I get more and more desperate.

While we wait on God for our requests and persevere in prayer, God begins His purification in our hearts. He purifies our motives so that when He does answers we will have the hearts to receive and keep it.

God will often also reveal to us how wrong our motives are. That's when we realise that we were asking with the wrong intentions. For our glory and not His.

3) Our trust in God is revealed

When we persevere in prayer, that's when our faith is often tested. It can be easy to pray for a week but it can be difficult when weeks, months or even years pass. That's when our faith becomes real.

That's when we don't just say we trust God but our actions reveal we trust God. It's not easy waiting on God but it becomes easy when we remember who God is. When we remember God is faithful and remember He cannot lie, then we have the strength to continue waiting on Him.

The bible says how those who wait on the lord renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31)

4) We change

In the place of persevering in prayer. The more we grow closer to God, praying and seeking Him. The more we develop our intimacy with God and begin to bear the fruit of the spirit. We begin to spiritually mature and develop more fruits of the spirit for the glory of God. We begin to become more and more like our creator and begin to reflect His likeness.

We understand this as Jesus said that as we abide in Him, we bear much fruit (John 15:4).

Romans 5:3-5
NKJV
3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

The more we endure and persevere the more our character is being refined, developed and prepared so that our faith may become perfect. Our faith increased, and our trust increased as we keep enduring and persevering to the end.

Our hope for perseverance is to receive the crown of life but also to see the fulfilment of God's promises upon our lives and what God has spoken over us.

5) We are equipped and prepared

God allowed the Israelites to go through the wilderness before the promised land. The wilderness was where their dependency on God and trust in Him should have been solidified.

God prepares us for each season. He helps us build more skills, grow our character, etc so that we will be able to sustain and handle the new season of life He has for us.

When we persevere in prayer, we will soon see ourselves begin to grow. God grows you in relationship with Him. Grow and develop who you are. God begins to teach you lessons that you need to hold.

I challenge you today to ask God for a heart of perseverance and to help you continue to keep praying. Keep asking and keep knocking. When you persevere, you're exercising your faith in God. Your faith becomes strong as you choose to place your trust in God and believe He can do what He says He can do.

-etty