There are a couple of prayers that I have been praying for years now. Years with no answer. I began wondering if I was ever going to get an answer. I began wondering if it was worth it. I began wondering if maybe I should give up those prayers. That's when I started stumbling across verses about prayer and persistence.
In Matthew 7:7-8, it says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." This is an encouraging verse in this situation. I have been seeking answers to this particular issue for years. If I believe this promise, I can keep asking, seeking, knocking, and believe that I will get an answer. This same promise is repeated in Luke 11, after Jesus teaches his disciples to pray. Jesus tells a parable about a man asking his friend for bread and receiving it because of his persistence. If, as humans, we answer our friends pleas, how much more will God answer our petitions?!
Another promise I came across is in Mark 11:23-24.
“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
This speaks directly to my lack of belief that I would ever receive an answer. If I desire to get an answer, I have to believe that it will happen. I have to keep praying and keep having faith, and eventually I will receive an answer.
I hate waiting. The questions run around in my mind and weigh down my heart. But Jesus has a solution even for that. Matthew 11:28-30 says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
God can take my weary, burdened down mind and heart, and give me rest and a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phillipians 4:7 – which incidentally, comes right after verse 6, which speaks of taking everything to God in prayer).
The promise I go back to over and over is Psalm 37:4. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” God has planted certain dreams in my heart, and I can’t believe He would give me those dreams and desires, and then not fulfill them. It’s a matter of learning how to love God more and find delight in Him and Him alone.
How do I know all these promises are true? “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) Can I trust God to honor His promises and bring them to fruition? Yes. Unequivocally yes.
To take this all back to the beginning, I can’t help but believe that God will answer. At this point, I don’t really care if it is a yes or a no, just as long as I know that it is from God. The years of persistence are worth it, and I should never give up praying until I receive the promised answers.
