Persistent Prayer (Genesis 16-18)

Did you notice how Abraham was persistent in his praying in Genesis 18:23-33? This theme of persistent praying is emphasized in other places in Scripture as well. Just consider these passages:

1) When David prayed for his sick child, he never stopped until the Lord took the baby (see 2 Samuel 12:15-23).

2) When Daniel needed understanding for a vision, he prayed for twenty-one days before he received God's answer (see Daniel 10:1-14).

3) Jesus teaches us to "ask, seek, and knock" when we pray. The verbs Jesus uses here are present tense verbs in Greek which signify continuous action. In other words, some have said the best way to understand Christ's call is this way: Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, and knock and keep on knocking (see Matthew 7:7-8).

4) One time a Canaanite woman, a non-Jewish woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon, asked Jesus to help her demonized daughter, and through her persistent faith, she received Christ's provision for her request (see Matthew 15:21-28).

5) Jesus tells the story of a widow who never stopped bringing her case before a judge until he responded to her (see Luke 18:1-8), and Christ says this is an example of how we "should always pray and not give up" (NIV).

6) When Jesus faced the cross, He prayed three times for God to take the cup of sin and suffering away from Him, and in this way, He demonstrated persistence in His own prayer life (see Matthew 26:36-46).

7) When Paul struggled with a thorn in his flesh, he asked three times for it to be removed, but Jesus assured Paul that His grace was sufficient to sustain him in his weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

So, it's obvious: The Scriptures teach us both with exhortations and examples to be persistent in prayer!

But there are two things I want you to notice both in Genesis 18 and in the Biblical illustrations above. First, it's interesting to note that Abraham asks a rhetorical question in Genesis 18:25b about whether or not God, the Judge of all the earth, will do what's right. Of course, both Abraham and we know the answer to this rhetorical question: A resounding "Yes"! God is righteous, and He only and always does what is right even if this means that suffering is involved (see Psalm 119:67-68).

Second, in the Biblical examples above, God answered some of the prayers with a "Yes" and some of them with a "No" response. For example, God gives a "Yes" answer to Daniel, to the Canaanite Woman, and to the Widow, but He gives a "No" answer to David and to Paul.

Okay, let's draw two major conclusions here. One: God "answers" every prayer. It's been well-said that God's answer is either yes, no, or or wait, but He answers every prayer! Two: Prayer is not a way to "strong-arm" God into doing whatever we want Him to do. No. Prayer is about seeking God's will to be done. Jesus says that when we pray, we should begin with a focus on God's will being done on earth as it is in heaven (see Matthew 6:9-10), and John tells us that whatever we ask according to God's will, we will receive (see 1 John 5:14-15).

So we are called ask God as we pray persistently. Yet, we need to follow Christ's example and close our prayer with His perfect example of surrender: "Your will be done" (Matthew 26:42, NIV). Prayer is another opportunity we have to be conformed into the image of Christ as we deny ourselves and follow Him (see Matthew 16:24; Romans 8:28-30).

We all struggle with being persistent in prayer, but God's grace is sufficient for us in all of our weaknesses, and His will and ways are perfect. Keep praying...