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Persistence in Prayer

James 5:16 - …..The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 

 

A devout Scottish Preacher named John Welsh used to kneel at his bedside and pray for the members of his church before retiring for the night. His wife was known to say, “Come to bed, John; it’s too cold.” His response to her was always the same: “But, dear, I have the souls of three thousand people to answer for, and I do not know how it is with many of them.”

It is one thing to pray, but it is altogether another to pray without giving up until the answer to your prayers are received. Jesus taught the disciples a parable about a widow who wouldn’t give a judge any peace until she got what she needed. The lesson? That people “always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1-8). He easily could have told them the story of Daniel who prayed for twenty-one days before he received an answer from heaven---an answer delayed by spiritual warfare in the heavenlies (Daniel 10:1-11:1).

What if Daniel had given up praying after a week? After two weeks? No wonder God blessed Daniel with an understanding of mysteries revealed to no one else. If you are praying and waiting on an answer, don’t stop! The answer may be just another prayer away.

The surest way not to get an answer to prayer is not to pray.

From – “Holy Moments in the Presence of God” by David Jeremiah