Importance of Persistence

Key verse: “I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth” (Luke 11:8).

Five men were trapped in a deserted zinc mine in Salem, Kentucky, by falling rocks. They had nothing to eat. They were in utter darkness. One of the men could have saved himself had he not run back to warn the others. When the entombed men discovered that they could not escape, they began to pray and sing. Their prayer and praise lasted for fifty-three hours! Then they were rescued. Later one of the men testified: “we lay there from Friday morning till Sunday morning. We prayed without ceasing. When the rescuers reached us, we were still praying”.
After observing the prayer-pattern and prayer-power in the life of Jesus, the disciples pleaded that He should teach them how to pray. In response, Jesus taught them the model of prayer, gave a parable of unwavering faith in prayer and encouraged them to ask, seek and knock.
Most of us offer snap-shot prayers and give up too soon. Many believers lack glorious victory in Christian living, many do not have the overflowing rivers of the radiant life. Many lack a continuing permanent love for others in their heart. They pray, but give up and stop praying before the answer comes.
The ironies of prayer are evident: God knows our need, yet we must ask; God is ready to answer, yet we must patiently persist. It was continuous knocking which gave the widow victory over the unjust judge. God promises that He will answer prayer if we do not waver when our faith is tried. Perseverance proves that we have no alternative, that we depend on Him whole-heartedly. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring of our soul to God through Christ in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things God has promised.

THOUGHT FOR THE DY: The greatest prayer is persistence.