Persistence in Prayer 1

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt… He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done… And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Matt 26:39, 42, 44

And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luke 11:5-10

 The world has become an instant world. Check your coffee table- instant coffee, instant milk. Check your fridge- instant juice, instant beverage. Check your kitchen drawer- instant poundo yam, instant chocolate cake mix, instant bean cake mix, instant soup, instant tomato paste. Small wonder that there is an ongoing Nigerian paediatric mini-epidemic of instant ‘noodlemania’. No more reliance on snail mail- we get instant e-mails and send an instant reply. No more waiting for the town crier with his gong to spread the news over a couple of days- we get the instant live stream on the internet. These advances are great! I mean, who wants to travel 10 days on foot from Lagos to Jos when you can fly the distance in 45 minutes? However, the instant mentality finds its way into our walks with God. We have been naming it and claiming it so long that sometimes we forget that Jesus left us the pattern of persistent prayer.

At the garden of Gethsemane, we glimpse the passionate Son of God praying over and over and over again the same things. Several hours of prayer in three sessions, praying again the same words. In 2 Corinthians 12:8, we catch Paul the apostle praying over and over and over again the same thing. ‘For this thing I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me.’

A foreigner to the Jewish nation received commendation from Jesus during his earthly ministry. She was a Canaanite woman encountered somewhere along the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, two principal cities of Phonecia. This was the first act of ministry recorded about Jesus done in Gentile territory. She cried to Him about her daughter who was cruelly afflicted of a demonic spirit. Matthew 15:23 records that Jesus ignored her. He answered her not a word. Still this mother kept asking insistently, unashamedly, repeatedly, boldly. Peter, James, John, Thomas and the lot were irritated. They were so put off by her continual asking that they said to Jesus, ‘Master, send her away, for she cries after us.’ I think the woman embarrassed them. Jesus reminded them that his primary assignment was to Israel and the woman overheard. At that, the non-Jewish woman’s intercession moved several notches higher. She fell at Jesus feet and worshipped, asking again, and again, and again. When she met resistance, she reasoned and demonstrated her faith. Even when the Jewish Rabbi subtly classified her with dogs, she kept asking. Eventually, she got what she wanted because she was persistent in prayer.

An interesting Greek word appears only in one place in the New Testament. Luke 11:8 translates the word in the King James Version as importunity. Anaideia refers to shamelessness and impudence which makes one ask again and again. A man is in bed and has long tucked his children in. His friend down the street happens to have a late night visitor and has no bread to serve his famished guest for dinner. The friend suddenly remembers that he can get a few loaves from the man who has shut his gate for the night. So he walks over to the sleeping man’s house and knocks hard and long, over and over. No reply. He knocks harder and in the process wakes the neighbours and the kids. The groggy father finally answers from his bed, 'Don't bother me. The door's locked and barred; my children are all tucked in bed with me; I can't get up to give you anything.' Undeterred, the friend keeps knocking. ‘Just loan me three loaves. I’ll pay you back tomorrow.’ After what seems like forever, the man gets up reluctantly to give his friend three loaves…not just because he is his friend, but because of his anaideia. The word “importunity” denotes perseverance in an object, without any regard to time, place, or circumstances - an improper, undignified, troublesome perseverance; literally an overboldness. He bull-headedly continued to disturb the man, refusing to take no for an answer. Persistence was the key to obtaining what he needed. Persistent prayer is the key to obtaining what we need from God- not because our importunity displeases God as it does man, but because heaven is pleased when we keep on asking. Persistence is a manifestation of faith.

Matthew 7:7 says ‘Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.’ The Latin Vulgate here adds, “if he shall continue knocking.” The verbs used in this text are really in the present continuous tense. The Analytical-Literal Translation puts it this way- "Be asking, and it will be given to you; be seeking, and you will find; be knocking, and it will be opened to you.” The International Standard Version says, "Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you.” Persistence in prayer is required for results. Pray until something happens. Don’t give up on God because He won’t give up on you. When it seems the answer is still far away, keep praying.