INCESSANTLY!
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up… “Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” Luke 18:1,7
“Nothing is so necessary as to call upon God incessantly and drum into his ears our prayer.” That sounds a bit forward, doesn’t it? Those words by Martin Luther are part of his writing on the Lord’s Prayer. How persistent should God’s children be in calling out to him?
In Genesis 18 we have an example of persistence in prayer. Abraham, concerned for the welfare of the believers in Sodom, implored God to spare them. Six times Abraham suggested a minimum of believers who would save the city from destruction. In Genesis 32 we find Jacob wrestling with the Lord throughout the night, refusing to let go until his prayer was answered. In Luke 11 Jesus tells the parable of the man who went to his neighbor at midnight asking for a loaf of bread. At first the neighbor refused, but because of the man’s “audacity” the neighbor finally gave in. In Luke 18 we read of the persistent widow who hounded the judge to grant her justice. We read, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up… ‘Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?’” (verses 1,7). Perhaps the greatest example of persistent prayer is Jesus himself in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times he asked that his cup of suffering be removed. Each time he received the same answer.
Some say that persistent prayer shows a lack of faith or that we don’t trust that God hears our prayers. The truth is quite the opposite! Persistent and steadfast prayer is a sign of a faith that knows that the Lord hears each prayer and relies on him to answer at his time.
We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Why did Jesus insist that we pray for God’s blessings one day at a time? It’s because the Lord treasures our daily prayers. He wants us to come to him every day searching for his blessings. He wants us to put our trust in him and to rely solely upon him for our daily needs. That is not a sign of weak faith. That is a sign of true faith. Our prayer lives should be filled with persistence, insistence, and consistence. We should never grow weary of asking, seeking, and finding.
Remember to never give up in your prayer requests.
From The Gift of Prayer