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Listen while you read: "The Lord's My Shepherd"1 (Lyrics) |
I experienced what it meant to be persistent in prayer one night when my five-year-old daughter came down with pneumonia. Three doctors diagnosed her that night. She was in and out of consciousness and was hallucinating with a temperature of 104, which can be a critical temperature for a child. The only thing that I could do that night was to pray. Being a new Christian, I did not know what it meant to be persistent in prayer, but I prayed through the psalms, not stopping for one moment, except when my daughter would wake up and hallucinate. I would take her hand and cry out to God. When she fell asleep again, I would continue to pray through the psalms. In the morning, the doctors came in to examine her for the next step of her treatment, but they could not find any trace of the pneumonia. Glory to God, He heard my prayers and answered! As a new Christian, it made an incredible impact on my prayer life, and it also helped a little five-year-old girl understand how much her heavenly Father loves her.
I beg you in the name of Jesus, if you are going through a crisis in your life, cry out to God. He is close to the broken-hearted.
Luke 18:1-8 – One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. "There was a judge in a certain city," he said, "who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, 'Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.' The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, 'I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'" Then the Lord said, "Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?" (NLT)
God asks us to be persistent in prayer at all times. Why? Because He longs to answer our prayers. If that were not the case, there would be no point in praying all the time. Our persistence in prayer shows our commitment to God and to what only He can do, which is to bless us or give us justice. Many times, we give up too soon because we don't see God working or we do not get the answers that we want. Perhaps it's God's way of shaping our wills in accordance with His. I encourage you to pray like the widow who was persistent with the unjust judge. She got justice because of her persistence. We know that the unjust judge was not a believer because the passage tells us that he "neither feared God nor cared about people". How much more, then, will our Father in heaven bless us because we are His children!
The moral of this parable is to continuously seek God's face in prayer for whatever the need or challenge in life is, or whatever the Lord has placed on our hearts to pray for. Through persistent prayer, our faith increases, and that is pleasing to God.
What prayer are you asking God to answer? Ask Him to shape your will in accordance with His.
Prayer: Father, forgive us when we come to You in prayer and give up because of our weak faith. We ask that You would increase our faith, and that we would be persistent in prayer, being confident that when we come before You, You hear our prayers. May we have peace with Your answers to our prayers, because we know that they reflect Your perfect will. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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Thanks for writing a good challenge Derek.
Thanks for sharing this devotional. Blessing.
Thanks for a good word today Derek.
Blessings.
Dear Derek,
I really enjoy your devotional “Persistent In Prayer”.
I needed to get that message and I thank you for sharing it.
(NY)
Derek,
Thanks for your devotional today as it has helped me in my prayer life.
Thanks again.
Your devotional is a good reminder! Our son-in-law has had kidney transplant surgery. Thanks for encouraging me in prayer for him.
(Texas)
A lovely devotional today Derek. Yes, our loving Lord does answer heartfelt prayer in His own way and in His time. He knows all about our needs before we even ask, and His ways are so perfect. Blessings on you and your family!
Dear Derek!
Thank YOU for writing to us. Your message encouraged me with my walk with the LORD.
Please keep writing.
I would appreciate if you would explain “praying through the psalms” as written in the devotional for April 12, 2016. I have been strengthened by previous writings and looked forward to future devotions. Thank you and blessings .
Thank you so much for your devotion this morning Derek. These were just the words I needed to hear this morning . God’s timing is perfect. And may He continue to bless you as you share His love with others through your devotions.
Thank you for your devotional this morning. Praying through the Psalms is a wonderful way to experience the full spectrum of prayer: praise, thanks, worry, complaint, anguish, isolation, confidence, gratitude, resignation, resolution, joy. Sometimes all in a single psalm!
Blessings.
Hi Derek,
Thanks for your devotional. Prayer is a strange but powerful tool that few Protestants have been taught to cultivate.
As for prayer, my devotion to cultivating a prayer time only started recently after my interactions with a devote Catholic and my studies on the Shroud of Turin.
Thanks again for your devotional.
Dear Derek Edwards,
Thank you for writing of your daughter’s healing and her showing no signs of pneumonia after you prayed for her.
Keep trusting and following the way of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our Adult Sunday School Class, we have recently studied some of Jesus’ miracles in John’s gospel, for instance the ones at John 4:39-54 and John 5:1-15.
Keep writing devotions.
Hello Derek Edwards,
Thank you for writing today’s devotional Persistent in Prayer, it was an inspiration to me.
I have been forturnate/blessed to be raised in a Christian Family and God has blessed us abundantly.
I praise God for the wonderful outcome that you experienced in your request for healing for your daughter.
I will endeavour to put more effort into praying and seeking God’s face and His will in Jacks life and what happens with this cancer.
May God bless you and make you a blessing.
Thank you Derek for sharing this experience.
A good testimony and also use of Scripture on the necessity of prayer.
God bless you richly and that you continue to write with such inspiration for others.
Dear Mr Edwards,
Thank you for sharing your miracle story — would that everyone would hear this story. God bless you.
Hi,
I was deeply touched by your posting. I lost my dad a couple of years ago and since then have been having loads of problems. I am a worship leader and this is what keeps me going.
Thanks and God bless.