We're half way through our series on prayer by Broughton Knox today. And the further we go, the deeper we go. Today's piece speaks of the need to persevere in prayer.

Jesus emphasized that we should persevere in prayer. Our prayers should spring from our deepest longings and desires, and we should not hesitate to bring these constantly before God in prayer. In Luke 18, Jesus said “Men ought always to pray and not to give up” and he told the story of the unjust judge who could not care less about providing justice for a poor widow who, nevertheless, succeeded in obtaining justice simply by constantly asking the judge to give her the justice she was asking for. So our Lord said we should importune God with similar perseverance, not that God is a reluctant judge, nevertheless the example of even the unjust judge giving in at last to the constant prayer of his petitioner was a lesson to Christians to persevere in prayer.

So, persevering in prayer is an essential characteristic of prayer. It shows, not only that we really desire what we are asking for, but that we also believe that God will answer. Our Lord himself gave us an example. He was greatly grieved in soul, as he told his disciples, on the eve of the crucifixion and he prayed in Gethsemane with perseverance and intensity. Three times he prayed saying the same words, because those words were simple, direct and carried the meaning of what he wanted; “Father, if it is possible may this cup pass from me”. Three times he prayed that prayer. He did not, of course, receive the answer that he had hoped for, but he received the answer that it was God's will that he should drink the cup. He drank it with full faith and he received the strength to drink it to God's honour and to our salvation. His prayer was answered in line with his real need.

The Apostle Paul is another example of persevering in prayer. He was troubled by what he called a “thorn in the flesh”, a messenger from Satan; something, presumably, not only unpleasant but a hindrance to his ministry. He prayed three times that it might be taken away—not once, not twice but three times. In the end he received the answer that it was better for him and for his ministry if the thorn stayed and so he gladly received that answer and glorified God through the very thing which he had hoped might be removed.

We are to persevere in prayer; repetition is one of the characteristics of true Christian prayer—not mindless repetition but repetition because the prayer springs from the bottom of our heart, reflecting our deepest longing and offered to the God who sympathizes with us in all our needs and trials and situations. We should persevere in prayer, repeat our prayers until God gives us the answer and makes clear to us what his mind is in the matter. Then we gladly accept that.

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