Twice in as many days, yesterday through a sermon and today through reading my Bible, God has reminded me to never give up praying. Prayer sometimes resembles the persistent dripping of tiny droplets of water against a solid rock. It may not be soon, but inevitably those little drops of prayer will create an impression upon the hardened rock of people’s lives. We welcome those times when we simply whisper the Name of Jesus, and the supernatural flow of the Holy Spirit transforms lives and circumstances. Quite often, however, we see God move only after years of faithful intercession.
Early in my Christian walk, I witnessed the power of persistent prayer. Hunchbacked and leaning on a cane, a wizen elderly lady would cross the street each Wednesday for prayer meeting and every Sunday for church. Though married, she walked alone. Her husband postured himself in front of the television each time, ignoring her treks through all types of weather. Always she prayed. She prayed, with calm trust, that one day he would yield his life to Jesus and join her in corporate worship. One day, he did. Forty years of praying finally melted the hard rock of an equally forty years of defiant resistance. From that Sunday on, they never missed a service together.
As I think about her quiet witness, admiration fills me.
“When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 22:29-30
We all know someone who fits the description of “downcast” or “not innocent.” Didn’t we all carry that profile before Jesus came into our lives? Yet, someone prayed. Someone prayed for us when we least deserved to be lifted up or delivered. When someone prayed, God listened and responded. Just as He once melted the hardness of our hearts, He will do the same for others.
Deliver
The melting away of crusty layers continues. After decades of intercession, we all continue to hold on to stubbornly defiant areas that resist God’s touch. Some things quickly and completely yield to His gracious hand. Other things remain hidden until, in His love, He exposes them to deliver us once again.
We have probably all waited for some kind of a delivery — a book from Amazon, a government cheque, a piece of furniture, a pizza, or (joy of all joys) a baby. Some deliveries come with little effort, others with great pain. Although we might dread some deliveries, we welcome most with eager anticipation, hastily opening the package and exploring the contents. Always, we hold to faith. It will come!
“He will deliver!” That’s a promise. We don’t know the exact timing. How we can’t fathom. But HE WILL! I can’t. You can’t. But HE WILL deliver those held bound … bound by evil … bound by … whatever …
“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.“
James 5:13-16
“Prayer offered in faith” changes everything. It changes circumstances. It changes people. Prayer offered in faith opens the way for God to do what only He can do, if and when we never give up praying.
Confession
“Therefore confess your sins to each other.” James instructs.
So, here’s my confession. I have given up praying more than once. “How is that a sin?” you might ask.
“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.”
1 Samuel 12:23
As the spiritual leader and voice over his nation, Samuel took prayer seriously. He wanted others to do the same. He equated failing to pray, even to pray for those in outright rebellion against God, as a sin.
Most of us guard our hearts and minds carefully, diligently following the Lord the best way possible. We would never deliberately commit an offense against God that would fall under the category of “SIN.” And yet, how lightly we may sometimes take the responsibility to pray for others — the rebellious others, the downcast others, the wayward, broken others. How much easier to cast a distaining look or spew a snide comment.
To pray in full sincerity, we must first lay down any superiority or self-righteous pride. We can all possess the “Jonah-like syndrome,” preferring to run and hide rather than extend help to those in need.
“He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall … I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”
Jonah 4:2
Never Give Up
Who or what is it? The one for whom you have given up praying. That thing for which you no longer pray.
Sometimes we justify any weariness to pray with excuses: “I’m believing God will answer in His time. I’m waiting in faith.” What if God is waiting for us to finish what we have started? What if He is wanting to teach us lessons through and in our prayers that never quit, never give up, and stay the course to the finish.
- “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always” (1 Chronicles 16:11).
- “Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:2).
- “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up … ” (Luke 18:1-8).
- “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).
- “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12).
Yes, we wait for God to answer. We never find a passive “Que será, será, whatever will be, will be” kind of waiting in Scripture. Rather, the Bible teaches a co-laboring — people praying, then God responding to their petitions.
People who expect God to answer pray while they wait.
God answers with perfect timing through His perfect ways. In Him we trust.
Who, What or Where
Join me for a moment of honest reflection. Who, how or when have my prayers faltered or faded into silence. When I look honestly at my personal prayer life, I see evidence of things I would far rather ignore — resentment over injustice, anger or bitter residue from former harm, faithlessness or unbelief that God will answer, or even frustration at God’s apparent lack of action. Ouch! None of these are easy to acknowledge, yet they all play a role in my prayerlessness. What about you?
God honors honesty. Far better honesty before Him than feigned obedience. After we repent or any nasty attitudes, He gives us the opportunity to start again with fresh zeal to “pray and not give up.”
We all, like the elderly lady I once knew, have prayed for hard-hearted people and hopeless situations for extended periods of time.
“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.”
Revelation 8:3-4
What assurance! All of our prayers, guarded by holy angels, rise before the altar of God like precious incense — beautiful to Him. The golden bowl containing our prayers is about to be tipped over, spilling the answers over the earth as it is ordained in heaven
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10
Until everything on earth conforms to God’s will and the fullness of heaven, we pray. We pray and never give up praying until that glorious day. The day or great rejoicing!
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