Persistant Prayer

“Importunate prayer, prayer performed with perseverance, is the kind pleasing to God.” Charles Hodge

“It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the logic of our prayers, nor the method of them; nor even the theology of our prayers. It is being awake and vigilant, pouring out our souls to God.”
John Bunyan

“Long prayers, however, do not make false hearts true.” 
John Wycliffe

“Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.”
E. M. Bounds

In life’s darkest battlegrounds when all human effort fails, there remains one supreme weapon that cannot be impeded—the persistent, unwavering prayer of faith. Though circumstances rage with demonic fury and opposition mounts like fortified walls, Scripture reveals the omnipotent force of a life wholly devoted to persistent prayer before the Throne of Grace. From the patriarchs to Christ Himself, the biblical record is replete with transformative examples of long-suffering, steadfast petitioners whose relentless prayers secured overwhelming spiritual breakthroughs and revival.

Persistence Taught By The Master
As the preeminent model of prevailing prayer, our Savior exemplified the holy tenacity required to overthrow hell’s entrenched strongholds and release Heaven’s supernatural provision. Jesus often sought solitude to pray, finding quiet places away from the crowds (Luke 5:16). Whether it was early in the morning or late at night, He made consistent time for prayer (Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12). He prayed with His disciples, teaching them the importance of communal prayer (Luke 9:28). He regularly gave thanks (Matthew 15:36), prayed for guidance in decision-making (Luke 6:12-13), and interceded for others, including future believers (John 17:20-21). Prior to appointing the twelve, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer (Luke 6:12). Even in His most challenging moments, in Gethsemane’s garden, He submitted to God’s will with heartfelt prayers. The Gospel accounts reveal He implored His Father’s will “with loud cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7, ESV) and being in agony, earnestly praying (Luke 22:39-46; Matthew 26:36-46). Jesus consistently modeled and embodied the soul-striving counsel He had taught through His parables. Addressing this persistence, Jesus instructed, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs” (Luke 11:5-8, ESV). This unrestrained pressing into God’s presence persists humbly yet unhindered by surface circumstances, social conventions, or physical limitations. It is not a prayer for tomorrow posture, but desperately laying hold of Christ’s promises until the manifestation of God’s answers becomes as real as they are inevitably sure. Such holy insistence reveals believing prayer as far more than fleeting bouts of heavenly ringing but sustained labors travailing until ushering in the Savior’s triumphant victory.

Biblical Examples of Prevailing Persistence
In Genesis, we find the account of Jacob wrestling with God, which remains a seminal example of tenacious, faith-filled grit. Though hopelessly overpowered by his opponent, Jacob refused to surrender his grip, declaring, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26, ESV). His desperation to receive God’s covenant promises would accept nothing less than total saturation in Heaven’s supernatural endowment. At daybreak, his persevering posture unlocked prophetic benediction with profound cultural implications: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28, ESV). This foundational encounter birthed colossal generational impact merely because one solitary figure dared wrestle until seizing God’s irreversible breakthrough. Another example of persistent prayer is when the prophet Elijah prays during a time of drought in Israel (1 Kings 18:41-46). He had prophesied a severe drought over the land as a consequence of the people’s disobedience to God (1 Kings 17). After three years, Elijah goes to King Ahab to announce that rain is coming. Despite seeing no immediate signs of rain, Elijah tells Ahab to go eat and drink, indicating his confidence in God’s promise. Then, Elijah climbs to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bows down to the ground and puts his face between his knees, a posture of earnest prayer. He instructs his servant to go and look toward the sea for any sign of rain. Elijah prays persistently, sending his servant seven times to check for a sign of rain. Finally, on the seventh time, the servant reports seeing a small cloud rising from the sea. Prayer is never complicated, its atomic power simply awaits human desperation until breakthrough. Perhaps the most protracted biblical display of relentless prayer involved the church’s inception in the book of Acts. Following Christ’s directives, the early disciples “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14, ESV) and patiently awaited the promise of the Father’s Spirit. They persisted for ten unwavering days praying in unified expectation until “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4, ESV). [The exact number of days they spent praying is not explicitly stated in this verse. However, we do know from Acts 1:3 that Jesus appeared to the disciples over forty days after His resurrection, during which He spoke to them about the Kingdom of God. The Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, occurred ten days after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 2:1). Therefore, it can be inferred that the disciples prayed continuously during these ten days leading up to the Day of Pentecost.] By steadfast obedience to pray until the blessing was fully received, this new congregation unleashed the catalyst for worldwide gospel propagation, revival outpourings, and communal revival that still impacts billions today. Persistent prayer births pivot points of history.

Holy Determination Amid Life’s Battles
From life’s innumerable difficulties and trials, the New Testament prescribes persistent prayer as the consummate remedy and resource. Whether assailed by personal frailties, afflictions, relational challenges, or demonic hostilities, Christ beckons all believers to avail themselves of Heaven’s mighty provision through steadfast, tenacious prayers. In harrowing moments when the malicious forces encroach, Scripture encourages us to resist the devil, “firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9) as we strive to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11, ESV). Prayer proves indispensable in this age of intensifying spiritual combat. Perhaps no carnal weakness more universally plagues believers than the voracity of temptation’s unremitting siege. The dire potential of shipwrecked faith compelled Christ to counsel, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38, ESV). Persistent watchfulness and impregnable postures of prayer alone enable overcoming victory amid life’s pervasive allurements toward sin and compromise. Paul testified, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me”
(2 Corinthians 12:8, ESV). While Paul does not specifically state what the struggle or affliction was, he describes it as a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7, ESV). When wrestling appears interminable, prayer becomes the ultimate battleground for claiming Christ’s triumph. Jacob at Peniel, Moses at the burning bush, the persistent widow in Christ’s parable – these all embodied spiritual tenacity until the blessing was fully realized. Relentlessly clinging in faith until the answer manifests remains the Church’s supreme weapon.

The Divine Allure of Unstoppable Persistence
Beyond pragmatic effectuality, the rare spiritual allure of holy determination seems to awaken something profoundly irresistible within the heart of God. Jesus posed the rhetorical question, “Will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night? Will He delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7, ESV). The Savior appeared to suggest an accelerated response accompanies those who persist in night-and-day prayers of righteous desperation. The unshakable tenacity of shameless, steadfast faith secures God’s intervening power more swiftly than less demonstrative petitioning. Understanding this dynamic, the Lord exhorts, “And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1, ESV). While most quickly abandon life’s complex prayergrounds, a spiritually scrappy remnant unrelenting in their desperation for breakthrough will provoke the Almighty’s incomparable zeal. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9, ESV). God seems to search creation for allies bearing unshakable resolve, praying beings who have abdicated all self-reliance to embrace implicit, persevering dependence upon His mighty intervention. From the unchanging Ancient of Days emanates an ardent invitation to join His consecrated company: “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and hidden things you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3, ESV). Scripture’s pages blaze with luminous witnesses of persistent faith like Hannah, whose protracted, tear-soaked prayers birthed deliverance for Israel through her son Samuel. As people mocked her seeming barrenness, Hannah pressed in relentlessly “and she was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly” (1 Samuel 1:10, ESV). Year after agonizing year, her heart’s cry reverberated until Heaven itself opened to contain her persistent devotion no longer. Jesus extolled the tenacity of the relentless widow, badgering the unrighteous judge into submission until he exclaimed, “Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming” (Luke 18:5, ESV). Dare you seize Heaven’s summons to persistent, overcoming prayer? Forge your legacy as a legendary prayer warrior who refuses to yield until every Heavenly promise and blessing is apprehended in full. Your tenacious wrestling will dismantle principalities and provoke divine acceleration in miracles of revival and breakthrough merely awaiting the unstoppable petitions of faith. The battlefields of life rage relentlessly with no permanent repose for spiritual casualties. Only persistent, prevailing prayers accessing the limitless supply of Christ’s indestructible life can ultimately secure victory over hell’s oppressive firestorm. The eternal call has gone forth from the Mountain of God: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3-4, ESV). The Lord eagerly awaits those who, like the importunate widow and persistent friend awakening their neighbors at midnight, abandon all reserve to wrest Heaven’s provision into their circumstances.

Will you be one of those rare souls who refuses to surrender the fight until Christ’s triumph is permanently established in every sphere of life? Though unpretentious in appearance, authentic persistent prayer has toppled empires and rearranged the course of human events. From society’s insignificant corners, the unstoppable labors of these faith-filled intercessors have birthed revivals engulfing nations. Their secret lies in persistent, childlike simplicity, holding fast to God’s promises until the serpent’s head is effortlessly crushed beneath holy footsteps. Let persistent prayers of desperation, day and night, become the joyful anthem of your existence. Approach the Throne of Grace often, laying hold of the unstoppable momentum gained by those who understand the art of persistence until the final seas of turmoil have calmed and darkness itself flees at the irresistible presence of the Risen Christ.