Persistent prayer

SUMMARY: Effective prayer requires passion and persistence. Instead of worrying, pray and make your requests known to God. Prayer should be a part of everything we do and should be used preventively to keep the devil neutralized. Martin Luther spent the first three hours of each day in prayer. Fill yourself with prayer in the good times so that you are protected in times of trouble.

The battles of life must be fought through insistent prayer. Faith is useless if it is not manifested through concrete and persistent requests. The great reformer Martin Luther prayed: “Dear Lord, Although I am sure of my position, I cannot hold it without you. Help me or I'm lost ”. Effective prayer requires that kind of passion and conviction. C. H. Spurgeon, the great nineteenth-century English preacher wrote: “Prayer draws the rope down in the world, and the great bell rings up in the ear of God. Some hardly move the bell, so languid their prayers are; others only give the rope an occasional tug. But the one who communicates with the sky is the man who grips the rope with boldness and continually pulls it with all his might ”.

The Apostle Paul advises, "Do not be anxious about anything, but let your requests be known in all prayer and supplication" (Phil 4: 6). In other words, instead of crying, pray; Instead of your knees shaking, bend them. If they are bent they will not be able to shake! (This reminds me of the joke about the young minister who was invited to preach at the seminary from which he graduated. When it was time to stop and preach, he stood up and said, “What I have to say must be pretty good. Because my knees are already clapping ”!)

We have already pointed out that prayer, like faith, is not just to get us out of trouble and crisis. Prayer should wash over and saturate everything we do. It is the flag that goes before, spearheading all our efforts. It must be the before and after of all our visions and projects. It is the element that should base and specify all the events and activities of our day. Martin Luther declared: "I have so much to do that I must spend the first three hours of each day in prayer."

I believe a lot in preventive prayer. Don't wait for the devil to be at the door to destroy you, then start praying. Pray continually to keep him neutralized, to line your life preventively against his attacks. The best time to pray is when all is well, when there are no clouds in the sky and the heart is calm and peaceful. In those quiet and even prosperous times, like Joseph in Egypt, treasure prayers in heaven for when the bad day of drought and lack comes. Fill yourself with such vitality and power; Cover all the windows and doors of your life in such a way that the Enemy, when he undertakes the attack and tries to launch his fire darts into your dwelling, finds your house armored and protected by the walls of Heaven, erected brick by brick for your persistent prayer.