Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, have you been praying and it doesn’t seem like God is listening? I want to encourage you and tell you that one of the essential qualities of effective prayer is persistence. God seems to be pleased and even delighted by our persistent refusal to accept anything less than answers to prayer. And this is so frequently illustrated in the Bible that it’s clearly a characteristic of the type of prayer that gets the Father’s attention and gains the blessing. Ian Bounds wrote that heaven is too busy to listen to half-hearted prayers or to respond to hasty, thoughtless calls to God. I like to think that maybe God intentionally withholds His love for us.
I like to think that God intentionally withholds or delays His answers, because in His great love for us, He cherishes those times of precious communion when we are on our knees acknowledging that we are helpless without Him. Now that’s my opinion, but it in no way reflects negatively on God, for He is sovereign and always in control. And as the old childhood song says, He’s got the whole world in His hands. In Genesis chapter 2, 32, Jacob is wrestling with God in prayer. And the Lord says, ‘Let me go’. And Jacob responds, I will not let you go unless you bless me. And it is this type of bold, persistent prayer that obtains the blessing from God in that story. And it takes faith to pray like Jacob.
It was this type of fervent persistence that prompted God to say to Moses, Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you a nation stronger and more numerous. Read Deuteronomy chapter 9, verse 14. But listen to this, Moses refused to relent. Instead, he persisted in prayer. And the Bible says that he fell prostrate on his face for 40 days and 40 nights, pleading with God to spare the people because of their sin. You know what? God spared the people because Moses refused to accept anything less. Now, there are so many examples in the Bible, but there are so many examples in the Bible about the power of fervent, persistent prayer that there’s no way I can go through them all.
One of the most famous teachings on persistent prayer is the parable of the persistent widow taught by Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus told this parable to teach his disciples that they should always pray and not give up, or as I often say, not lose heart. See Luke chapter 18. He said, In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, Grant me justice against mine adversary. And for some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, Even though I don’t fear God or care about what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won’t eventually come and attack me.
And the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? That was Luke 18 verses 2 through 8. The New American Standard Bible, NASB, says it this way: Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection. Otherwise, by continually coming, she will wear me out. I’ve read various commentaries that in the original language where it says she will wear me out, the Greek is actually a little closer to: otherwise I’m going to get beaten black and blue by her pounding.
Now, pay close attention to the part where Jesus says, Listen to what the unjust judge says. Okay, because Jesus is telling us, Okay, here’s the point of the story. This is important. So pay close attention. This is a judge who could not care any less for this woman. You have to understand that in those days, widows were truly alone. She had no one to turn to. She was considered the lowest of the low. Nobody cared. And yet even so, the evil judge finally gave in and granted her request because she refused to take no for an answer. And the judge just wanted peace. He wouldn’t be left alone. And you often find in the Bible that the Lord will make comparisons to make a point.
He will say, If this is true, then how much more of God? And so he was saying, If this evil man who cares nothing for a woman that he deems worthless will finally give in to God, then how much more of God? If he will give in to her request, then how much more will your Father in heaven, who loves you more than you can imagine, come to the aid of those who cry to him day and night? Jesus uses this story to make the point that we should not give up, even when it seems that God doesn’t hear. The ESV version of the Bible says that Jesus told him this parable to the effect that they ought always to pray. Why is refusal to take no for an answer such a great display of faith?
Wouldn’t it show more faith to simply pray about something and then leave it with God, trusting that if it is his will, he will do it? Not according to the examples we see in the Bible. On the contrary, we see a clear and undeniable pattern in the Bible examples, in the teachings of Jesus, that God would have us pray and, and keep on praying until we are, until we get what we’re asking for. Remember, Jesus himself said that the whole reason he was telling the parable about the widow and the unjust judge was so that they would learn, excuse me, to keep on praying and never give up. No one could exhibit such bold, persistent determination to keep on asking in the face of silence without great faith.
You see, it doesn’t, it doesn’t take any great faith to make a quick one-time petition, but it takes faith to wrestle with God day in and day out. It requires a firm belief, not only that God is able to do all that we ask, but also that he wants to, that he’s willing. What about Elijah, who kept wrestling in prayer for rain, even after his servant returned with bad news? Not once, not twice, but six times. Yet Elijah didn’t give up. He didn’t start to question the promises of God. He didn’t say, well, it must not be God’s will. No. He kept storming heaven and sending his servant back out seven times to see if the rain had started yet.
And the Bible says that the seventh time the servant reported, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea. And so Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ Meanwhile, the sky grew black and the clouds and the wind rose and the heavy rain started falling. Read 1st Kings chapter 1. Matthew chapter 18, verses 44 and 45. We have another illustration of the type of faith that won’t let go without the blessing, and the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew chapter 15. I love this story. It’s verses 21 through 28. Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And a Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, son of David, have mercy on me.’ My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering horribly. But Jesus didn’t answer. He didn’t say a word. And so his disciples came to him and urged him. They said, ‘Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.’ And he answered. And so he finally said to her, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’ But the woman came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, help me,’ she said. And he replied, ‘It’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’ Yes, it is, Lord, she said. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.
And then Jesus said to her, woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed in that moment. Read Matthew 15, verses 21 through 28. I love that story. What faith, what holy boldness it took to keep asking after being put off like that. Think about it. This woman is crying out to the Lord for help. And he just ignores her, or seems to. Not a word. It was a test. And I doubt he even turned his head to acknowledge that she was there. I think we can assume he heard her by the disciples’ response. They were urging him to send her away. And he responds by basically saying, ‘Woman, you don’t belong here.’ I don’t know about you, but I’m afraid I would have walked away with my head between my legs.
And I often have in the past when I’ve prayed and God didn’t seem to be hearing. First, Jesus ignores her. And then he tells her she’s from the wrong side of the tracks, basically. Even so, humiliated and broken, she kneels down on his side. And with tears streaming down her eyes, she pleads, ‘Lord, help me.’ And then once again, the Lord pushes back. But she isn’t going home empty. She isn’t going home empty-handed. She presses on. She argues her case. And the heavens open. Jesus not only granted her request, but praised her. Praised her for her audacious faith. I wonder how many prayers go unanswered because we lose heart and give up too soon. When God’s only testing our faith. Too often we present our petitions to God and we get only silence.
So we quit praying, even before we’ve ever really begun. Chalking it up to the mystery of God’s will. I like how Ian Bowne puts it: We are not the sport of his sovereign power. He’s not playing at make-believe in his marvelous promises about answer to prayer. The promises of God are marvelous indeed. And they are for you. The scriptures make it clear that God answers prayer. And that unanswered prayer is the exception, not the rule. Do you know there are only two instances of unanswered prayer in the Bible? Two. Make no mistake about it. God loves it when we hold him to his promises and refuse to be denied. What will you do? Press on. Keep praying. Keep crying out, Lord, help me. May the grace of Jesus be with you.