Persistence in Prayer

Last night I was talking with a friend whose brother had recently been on a trip to Columbia, South America and was talking about the miracles and healings they saw, blind eyes opened, deaf ears healed, paralyzed guy walking. He said it was crazy - that people wouldn't leave until they had their healing, and that as a result they needed to learn perseverance in prayer. I think that is so true of our Churches here in the US, we have lost the ability to really persevere in prayer for someone. I think we don't know how to sacrifice our time and selves in the place of prayer, for the most part. I know that I have a hard time praying longer than 10-15 minutes for someone.


I am reminded again of Samuel's mother Hannah, how she persevered in prayer for years before the Lord answered her prayer (1 Sam 1:1-20). I am also reminded of the disciples inability to heal the boy with the demon. They were unable cast out the demon, and had apparently stopped trying when Jesus came down from the Transfiguration. Jesus tells them why they couldn't cast it out:


(NASB)Matthew 17:20-21
And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ''Move from here to there,'' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. [21] "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."


Jesus equates their inability to littleness or lack of faith, and also adds the statement that this type only comes out except by prayer and fasting - both speak of a place of perseverance and self sacrifice.


In John G. Lake's healing rooms in Spokane, WA in the 1930s, they would sometimes pray for people, 10-20 days for multiple hours each day, before they saw them healed. Lord, help us to learn to put others before our schedules.


I am also thinking that this scriptural example also shows the faith of the father, who brought his son for prayer. It was clear that the message that was going out was that everyone who came to Jesus got healed. And it is also clear that many times, after the sending out of the 12, that the apostles were also ministers to those that needed healing. In this case, the man brought the son and after the apostles had tried to heal his son and failed, he was undeterred, he waited for Jesus.


I think about our attitude here in the States, how if we go forward and get prayer and nothing happens, how quickly do we walk away? I also think about my attitude towards anyone who would continue to ask for prayer, going from person to person, or coming up every time there is an invitation for prayer ministry. I have tended to be annoyed by their persistence, rather than encouraged by their faith. Lord, please forgive me for this clearly wrong attitude.