3. EFFECTIVE PRAYER
REQUIRES PERSISTENCE.
“I
will not leave
you” (2 Kin. 4:30).
The woman decided that she would stay with Elisha until he did
something about her situation. How quickly she could have given up! Elisha sent Gehazi (2 Kin. 4:29, 31) but she wasn't satisfied with
that. (I wonder if she knew that the errand would be unsuccessful?) She refused to believe that Gehazi's report was the final answer. She reserved the final word for Elisha.
How persistent are you in prayer? Are you of the one-and-done variety? (You mention the request once
and leave it in God's hands.) I don't want to discourage you from trusting God in prayer; rather,
I want you to realize that God's sovereignty is not an
excuse for man's laziness. Prayer is hard work! Your flesh doesn't like to pray!
Mt. 7:8 > “For
everyone who asks
receives, and he who seeks
finds, and to him who knocks
it will be opened.” In the Greek, there is the “present of duration.” That means that the verbs suggest action that is happening right now
and will remain ongoing.
“For everyone who asks (and keeps on asking) receives, and he who seeks (and keeps on seeking) finds, and to him who knocks (and keeps on knocking) it will be opened.”
You don't continue asking because you think God doesn't hear or doesn't want to answer; you continue asking because persistence is something Jesus taught (Lu. 18:1-8).
(Tomorrow's post: Effective prayer requires trust.)
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