The Value

 “The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but that we will finally hear Him.” (William McGill)

Luke 18:1-8, International Children’s Bible

Then Jesus used this story to teach his followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. ² “Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. He also did not care what people thought about him. ³ In that same town there was a widow who kept coming to this judge. She said, ‘There is a man who is not being fair to me. Give me my rights.’ ⁴ But the judge did not want to help the widow. After a long time, he thought to himself, ‘I don’t care about God. And I don’t care about what people think.

 ⁵ But this widow is bothering me. I will see that she gets her rights, or she will bother me until I am worn out.’” ⁶ The Lord said, “Listen to what the bad judge said. ⁷ God’s people cry to him night and day. God will always give them what is right and he will not be slow to answer them. ⁸ I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find those on earth who believe in him?”

Here are ways to being persistent in your prayer life: Understand God’s…

1.      Listening-But surely God has heard me. He has paid attention to the urgency of my request. (Psalm 66:19, The Voice)

 

2.     Timing-God gave us the ability to think about his world, but we can never completely understand everything he does. And yet, he does everything at just the right time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11, Easy-to-Read Version)

 

3.     Will-Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. (Proverbs 3:5, Amplified Bible)

 

4.     Grace-⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to relieve me of this. ⁹ But he answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. (2 Corinthians 12:8-9, The Passion Translation, Paul)

 

 When you pray, there is no need to repeat empty phrases praying like those who don’t know God for they expect God to hear them because of their many words. (Matthew 6:7, The Passion Translation) The difference between repetitive and persistent prayer is one comes from the urgency of the heart, and another is useless and is done to impress someone.  God needs the honesty of heart communication.

 

“Yes” may not always be the correct answer you want for God to provide to your prayers. A “no” answer may be your heavenly Father’s decision of showing you His grace in a new and awesome way.

 

Patience in doing God’s will is a virtue we all need to display in our lives on a regular basis. Align your will with God’s mission.

 

¹⁴ We live in the bold confidence that God hears our voices when we ask for things that fit His plan. ¹⁵ And if we have no doubt that He hears our voices, we can be assured that He moves in response to our call. (1 John 5:14-15, The Voice)

 

Pray regularly with passion and persistence to God (no matter the obstacles).  Don’t give up on yourself, or believe Satan’s lies about you being unworthy, or not good enough.[i]

 

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[i] Inspired by the sermon “Asking Again: Powerful & Effectual Prayer,” (installment two) Sunday January 17, 2021, Pastor Josh Boyer (CPLC).  In-person services begin Sunday, January 31, 2021 at all CenterPoint campuses. CenterPoint also has an online Sunday morning service that can be viewed at facebook.com/centerpointchurches or centerpointchurches.com/.