One of the hardest things to do is to keep praying when it seems like you’ve been praying about something forever. Sometimes, even when you’re sure that what you’re praying for is in line with the Word of God, it can seem as though God’s not even hearing you. But we can be sure that if we are praying in the name of Jesus, our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), God does hear. And the Bible repeatedly tells us to be persistent in our prayers.
Jesus tells a parable to his disciples one time likening our prayers to knocking on a friend’s door to ask for some bread to share with a guest. He says. “…if you keep knocking, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.” (Luke 11:8)
He goes on to say. “Keep on seeking… Keep on knocking.” Persist! Unfortunately, he doesn’t put a time table on it. He doesn’t say that once we hit 100 prayers, or 100 days. I’ve seen this to be true in my life! I’ve seen God move in situations I am praying about… but I’ve seen him do it in his timing. Sometimes it’s nice and quick – and in others, I’m still praying, years and years later.
There’s an acronym that explains this persistence well. – P.U.S.H. Pray Until Something Happens. Keep praying! God is going to do “something”. It might not end up being exactly what we’re praying for, but if we’re praying from the bottom of our hearts and crying out to God to move in a situation – he will move! It might look different than we had pictured while we were praying, but ultimately it will look better.
The Bible calls the prayers of God’s people incense. (Revelations 5:8) That means they smell good to God. And when he gets a whiff of our prayers, he bends down to listen. (Psalm 116:2) And it pleases him to hear… and answer!