Prevailing Prayer
Have you ever been in a store or an office where you had to take a number and wait for your turn to be attended too? I have, many times. There was a time I needed to change the registration of my car and when I took my number to be attended to, I found that there were over 30 people in front of me. I sighed in frustration and took a seat in the waiting room. The waiting room is just that, a place to wait. After about 30 minutes, only two people had been attended to. I thought to myself: “This is going to take all day.” I decided to go have a coffee and walk around a bit. After about 40 minutes I returned to the waiting room, only to find that my turn had come and gone. My impatience ended in not getting done what I needed have done.
Praying in faith is much the same. It requires prevailing. Just because you get a word from the Lord does not mean that it will automatically happen. In Hebrews 6.12, it says that through faith and patience one inherits the promises. Faith and patience go hand in hand. Faith is actively declaring the promise in prayer and patience is prevailing in prayer until the answer is received. Prevailing prayer is just not quitting.
In the time of King Ahab, there was a severe draught in the land of Israel. Three years earlier, Elijah had prophesized to King Ahab that there would be no rain. Queen Jezebel had polluted the land with idol worship and had persecuted those who feared the Lord. God wanted to send rain, but first the pagan priests of Baal had to be destroyed and the people needed to turn back to God. The prophet Elijah called the king and all the people to gather on Mount Carmel where he challenged the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. The nation needed to make a decision to serve God or Baal. That day God showed His power and fire came down from heaven to consume the altar Elijah had made. The people repented and the false prophets were destroyed. But, the rain still did not fall. Elijah declared to King Ahab to hurry to Samaria, because rain was on its way, but there were no clouds in the sky. The declaring was an act of faith.
The king got in his chariot and went down the mountain toward Samaria, as did the people, but Elijah stayed on the mountain. God had given him the promise of rain. He declared the promise in faith to the nation, but he still needed to prevail in prayer until it happened. Remember, there were no clouds in the sky. Elijah prayed. After some time, he sent his servant to look for any clouds forming over the sea. Nothing. Six times he repeatedly sent his servant, but there were no clouds. When would you quit? How long would you continue to pray without any results? On the seventh time, Elijah’s servant returned saying that he had seen a small cloud, about the size of a man’s fist, being formed over the waters. That was the answer. Elijah gathered his things and began to run toward Samaria. Rain was on its way.
Jesus tells the story of a persistent widow who went before a judge to get justice. This judge had no fear of God in him and did not want to attend to this woman, but because of her persistence, he gave in to her request. Jesus said that in the same way Father God will give justice to those who cry out to Him day and night. (Luke 18.1-8) For 21 days, Daniel prayed and fasted until he received the answer from God and Jacob strove with the angel all night until he received the blessing. Don’t quit too soon. Prevail in prayer until God’s promise to you is experienced.
Scriptures to meditate on:
I Kings 18.41-46; Jer. 33.3; Ps. 61.2; Heb. 6.12; Luke 18.1-8; Daniel 10.2-21