03/20/2026
Have you given up on certain desires because you prayed for them once, twice, three times, and they were not given to you? Have you resolved yourself to the fact that God just doesn’t want you to have this thing, or that He might not hear you? Well, if you are praying rightly in the will of God and not asking Him to go against His character, promises, and Word, then neither of these assumptions are correct. Persistent prayer leads us into the very crux of faith and answers a question posed to us in the book of Luke… “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"”
Luke 18:1, 6-8 ESV
The most important part of our bible reading today is the final sentence... “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Faith... it just doesn’t happen; it is sweated over and sought out diligently; it is the fruit of suffering, and the wine of a crushed and fermented life. Faith comes from the Word of God and brings with it patience, and a confidence in Him and His promises.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Romans 10:17 ESV
I love to watch nature documentaries on television that deal with exploration, and it amazes me to see creatures that exist on this earth that are so foreign to anything I could have imagined. One place that seems to contain a multitude of them is the deep ocean. I have watched as naturalists get into small submersibles and descend into these depths over and over again searching for a certain sea creature that might have been caught up in a fishermen’s net once or twice in all of history... yet they continue the search for them.
If men and women can search out illusive creatures such as this, and fruitlessly go time and time again into depths that could crush their tiny craft, and them as well; then who are we to abandon a prayer that surrounds and carries our desires into God’s presence? Are the hopes and dreams of these scientists more perfectly formed and pursued than our hopes and needs before the Father? Is their faith in a man-made craft, and finding a creature in the dark and crushing depths of the ocean, more perfect than our faith? Some scientists have spent a lifetime in the pursuit of a single elusive creature, and yet we are tempted to abandon our dream after a week, a month, a year, or several years... why? Didn’t Jesus encourage us to keep looking and searching?
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Luke 11:9-10 ESV
I have come to the conclusion that the more intently we pursue something, the more we desire it, and the more we desire it, the greater our faith becomes in obtaining it. We know God’s Word, and we know that He answers our prayers, and yet we abandon our desires because we have not pursued them with an intensity and confidence that will perfect us in our faith. The important thing in prayer is not the answer, or the thing we wish God to give us... no, it is the robustness of the faith that comes in going to Him over and over again with an ever-increasing belief that this is the day that our prayer will be answered.
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.”
Psalm 5:3 NIV
I served on a three-man Intercessory prayer team that had been in existence in my church for over thirty five years. I was the junior member and had only been praying as a part of the team for a few years in comparison, but in that time I experienced people whose prayers were answered immediately, and others who came in every Monday night, as we prayed for their same desire or needs week after week. What I saw in doing this blessed me beyond my ability to describe. In these repeated prayers I saw miracles and truths surface in God’s Word, and in them my own faith grew in ways that were remarkable.
The first truth was that our prayers are never ignored. I prayed with many people, and watched as each person was changed, sometimes ever so slowly, with each prayer that we repetitively prayed together. The transformation was often so subtle that they couldn’t see it happening in themselves, but it was happening nonetheless. It was like growing old; we stand in front of the mirror each morning to shave, or put on makeup, and do so for years on end, but one morning we put the razor, or the makeup brush down, and there looking back at us is a wrinkled face surrounded by grey hair. It happens so slowly, and yet it does. Faith is like aging; it is like a bottle of fine wine... At what moment did it reach the richness of taste that makes it a treasure? Was it during the early years that passed, or was it what was ever so slowly occurring in the bottle during those later years? This is where faith comes in... it is perfected by our prayers and our persistence in believing that unseen hope is real, true, and imminent.
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
1 Corinthians 13:11-12 ESV
The second thing that I noticed was that a prayer is often repeated over and over again, until one day the realization strikes us that our real desire was not what we had been praying for, but the act of praying to God itself. The journey, by way of those prayers into the presence of God, was the true blessing, and what once seemed so important and necessary to us was just a vehicle that brought us faithfully back to Him every day. When this realization occurs, the answer to our prayer usually follows swiftly behind, and is anticlimactic when it arrives. That one prayer, and all it taught us about our faith, leaves us wondering what else in our life can replace that answered prayer. What can we ask of God now that will allow us to come to Him each day repeatedly and which will allow Him to take our faith to an even higher level of holiness?
The last observation that I will share with you today about praying persistently and repetitively is that sometimes a person prays for a thing their entire life, and in all that time they never believe that they have received it, but at long last they realize that what they were praying for during those years, and what they truly wanted, were two entirely different things. Perhaps they were praying for order and peace within their family when what they really desired was to feel loved or needed by them.
Yes, God knows our heart, and He answers our prayers, but sometimes we lose sight of the bigger picture, and this is comprised of our faithfulness, and the relationship we have with Him. The quick answers we receive to prayers are nice, and they keep us going. They are like a trip to the Emergency Room at a hospital... they get us through an immediate situation, but the real object in maintaining a good healthy prayer life is to pray without ceasing and to be admitted to the Lord’s spiritual hospital where we are healed by facing these constant pains of life by overcoming them as we change our faithful behavior, our spiritual diet, and then gain a deeper understanding of God in our life.
So, each day we get into our submersible craft of prayer, and we go down into the depths of life searching for something. We turn on our search lights and stare into the darkness hoping for a glimpse of that thing we believe to be there... that thing we believe to be just beyond our ability to see. We brave the world’s crushing pressure that surrounds us and search, then when at last we see what we have been longing for, and the cameras click, and our excitement in the moment peaks, we come to the realization that it wasn’t the discovery at all that had truly thrilled us... it was the journey. It was the faith that had increased within us with every dive, and with every eye straining moment spent believing that the answer was there… just out of sight.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV
So, wine ages over time, and the grapes must be crushed and fermented by a yeast that consumes their sugar until at last what is left behind is the real treasure. Our persistent prayer is like that wine; when the bottle is finally opened, and the taste of years of effort is on our tongue, we realize that all the crushing, the stirring, the fermenting, has left us with a rich and remarkable faith. In the end, we would go through all the waiting, and suffering again because that is what produced the character and faith that we have eventually uncorked at God’s table. This is the journey of believing, hoping, faith, and prayer.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for answering my prayers, and thank you especially for those that I have prayed over and over again as my faith was increased, perfected, and made suitable for your table. My desire Father is to be in your presence always, but sometimes I confuse that with my earthly wants, and in so doing this increases the time I must spend on my knees repeating the same painful prayer as you walk me towards the realization of what I am really asking for. Holy Father you hear my every word, as you begin a journey with me that is so subtle that I can barely feel the breeze as we are walking. Open my eyes to your way and never let me lose my grip on your hand as we travel. Let my hope remain fixed on you Merciful Father, and by so doing strengthen my faith in reaching the destination you have planned for me. When at last our journey in this and every prayer reaches its end, and I realize the true nature of you that it has revealed to me, then I pray that you will give me yet another hardship, another prayer, another road to walk down with you and Jesus Christ. I pray each day, humbled on my knees in my prayer closet, that you will bring me closer to the perfection of my faith that you desire of me, and that you will take pleasure in who I have become. Lead me on Heavenly Father, and in our journey, and by my prayerful waiting, give me patience; give me faith in you that reveals the true answer to my prayers... an answer that is greater than my human desire I might have; one that lifts me up before you. On the day of judgement, when your Son returns to claim us, and comes into view, let Him find me faithfully waiting for His arrival. Great are you Holy Father, for in you I am made acceptable and whole.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
Rich Forbes