Persistent Prayer
Before you even present your requests to God, He knows exactly what you need. But there is still something significant about persistence in prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
What exactly is it about persistence that’s equated with faith? It’s not as though God is watching from the Heavens, psychologically torturing the one who prays. He gets no pleasure out of delaying just for the sake of delay.
Additionally, it’s not as if prayer is persuasion. God will not derail His will for the sake of our whims. Prayer is not about strong-arming or guilting God into a response. After all, who among us could force his will upon God? Who has strength to move His divine hand?
So persistence is not demanded of us because God takes pleasure in our misery, nor is persistence a way to manipulate God. Rather, persistence is a spiritual practice that prepares the one who uses it.
Persistent prayer does not make God willing to give; it makes us capable of receiving. God is already willing to give us every promise in His Word. It’s our ability to receive that is matured as we pray persistently.
Persistent prayer weakens the flesh. Persistent prayer turns me into one who can handle the answers to persistent prayer. Persistent prayer produces patience. Persistent prayer causes me to become capable of handling the responsibility of the blessings of God. Persistent prayer cultivates the character of Christ in me.
More than it will change any one or any thing, persistent prayer will change the one who prayers persistently.