How to Persevere in Prayer

by Tanya

 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not (1 Kings 18:42-44, KJV).

Have you ever really stopped to consider this story?

Let’s get a summary of the entire story. Now there was no rain for 3 1/2 years. At the end of this time God sent Elijah with the message to Ahab, that the drought had come to an end and there would be rain.

After an awesome “battle” with the false prophets, Elijah went up on the mountain to pray for rain. Had not God already told him that there would be rain? Why did he now need to pray for rain?

You see, praying to God does not change God, but it is our way of communicating, bonding, communing with God. And so Elijah prayed. Not once. Not twice, but SEVEN times he prayed for rain. At the seventh time, his servant returned with the news that there was a small cloud. This was confirmation that his prayer had been answered.

But did you notice how many time Elijah prayed? SEVEN times.

You see sometimes our prayers are not answered the first time we pray.

Sometimes our faith needs to grow. Sometimes we need to give up something that is standing in the way of our prayers being answered. Sometimes we just need to learn to surrender more. Sometimes we need to persevere.

And so Elijah persevered. He did not stop at the sixth time. He knew God had promised rain and He prayed until that promise was realized.

God has promised to give us “abundantly above all that we can ask or think” and many times we give up before He can give us those things-sometimes we stop praying at the sixth time.

God wants us to persevere in prayer until all our prayers are answered.

Tweetable:

Praying to God does not change God, but it is our way to communicate with Him. (click to tweet)

God wants us to persevere in prayer until all our prayers are answered. (click to tweet)

Tanya – from God’s Character