Blake Long

Justin because a Christian his freshman year of college. Immediately he had a newfound love for Christ and the gospel and desired to tell everybody he knew about it— including his unbelieving, atheistic friend, Bryan. He knew that Bryan, stubborn as a mule, was not going to take too kindly to this news. Argument after argument, Justin attempted to explain why there was not only a God, but only the God of the Bible. He would then get to the gospel and witness to his friend. But alas, time after time, Justin still wouldn’t believe. He wasn’t convinced. So Justin decided to lay off. This didn’t mean Justin was done witnessing to Bryan, but it meant he wouldn’t press the issue in every interaction. Instead, he began to fervently pray for God to save his friend.

Years went by and Bryan was still an atheist. But that didn’t mean Justin stopped praying. He prayed daily for God to change Bryan’s stony heart into a fleshly one (Ezekiel 36:26); he even let Bryan know he was praying for it. Decades passed and both Justin and Bryan were in their 60s. All hope seemed to be lost—until one day. On one cold winter morning, Justin got a phone call. It was Bryan. He had called Justin to let him know he had become a Christian. He had recently been involved in a near-fatal car accident. During his long stay in the intensive care unit, with nowhere else to turn, Bryan had begun to pray. That praying morphed into curiosity, which led to questions. And more questions finally led to a breaking point: the conviction of sin and the need for a Savior.

Justin, now the pastor of a small Southern Baptist church in their town, was absolutely floored—and understandably so! Through many tears and smiles, all Justin could say to Bryan was, “God answers prayer.”

God Honors Persistence

In the above story, Justin was determined to consistently pray for Bryan. There were many points when Justin thought all hope was lost. If God hadn’t saved Bryan yet, he wasn’t going to now. He knew that was a sinful way to think, however, so he continued to pray; he knew God could save anybody he pleases. After decades upon decades of God telling him no, God finally answered his prayer. He “finally” saved Bryan! But what was so admirable about Justin was he kept praying. Through years of what seemed to be God ignoring him or not answering his prayer, he continued to pray, continued to plead, continued to ask. It wasn’t through stubbornness or unwillingness to move on, but through belief that God can save anybody—even somebody like Bryan. And he knew, through the testimony of Scripture, God uses prayer as a means for salvation. So he kept faithfully praying. And then it happened.

God honors persistent prayer. He is pleased when his children come to him again and again to ask for things— even the same thing, like Justin.

Faithfulness vs. Stubbornness

There is an important distinction to make that needs to be understood. In calling the reader—and myself—to respond to unanswered prayer with persistence, I am not meaning to be stubborn. In an earlier chapter, I kept praying for a pastoral vacancy but, in stubbornness, I kept praying though God was clearly telling me no. I wanted my plan to work out so badly that I was willing to be stubborn and ignore clear direction from the Lord.

This is not what I am referring to here.

I want to talk about us responding to unanswered prayer with persistence or perseverance. Not like me—with a hard head and distrust in God’s providence; but like Justin—with trust in God’s providence and promises. He doesn’t see a stubborn heart, but a prayerful heart—a heart that is deeply in awe of God. A heart that knows God uses prayer to accomplish his will. And when that awe invades the heart, we are willing to pray for the same thing over and over and over again. We believe with all our heart that God is faithful to his promises. Praying for the same thing habitually doesn’t guarantee God will eventually answer it, but it does mean God sees our faithfulness in prayer. It shows we truly believe him to be sovereign, to be in control, to be God.

The Persistent Widow

Scripture is full of passages showing persistence in prayer. For example, the story of the persistence widow in Luke’s Gospel.

The judge didn’t grant the widow’s wishes because he truly believed in her request but simply because he was tired of her asking. And yet, God never gets tired with us. He never gets bothered.

We can be this persistent with God and be comforted he will never get annoyed. No changing the subject, no rolling of eyes, no exasperating. God wants us to come to him— over and over and over again. Those moments of unanswered prayer—in the proper circumstance—should prompt you to keep praying for it until you can’t pray anymore. Don’t lose hope, never give up. There’s no such thing as going to God too many times. God still works even through unanswered prayer. When God tells us no, it’s less about why he did and more about how we respond. Will we want to know the reason he said no? Absolutely. And don’t be afraid to ask that.

The late J.I. Packer noted in his famous Knowing God:

Perhaps he means to strengthen us in patience, good humor, compassion, humility or meekness . . . Perhaps he has new lessons in self-denial and self-distrust to teach us. Perhaps he wishes to break us of complacency or undetected forms of pride and con- ceit. Perhaps His purpose is simply to draw us closer to himself . . . Or perhaps God is preparing us for forms of service of which at present we have no inkling.

If we truly trust the Lord, however, then we don’t need to know why. We trust him—and that’s enough. What we do know is God wants us to feel free to come to him—anytime, any place, anywhere. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the 500th time you’ve prayed for it. He wants your heart. He desires your affection, your trust, your confidence in him. So though your parents may have gotten annoyed with you or you get annoyed with your children, Scripture is clear that we cannot annoy our Heavenly Father. Therefore, go to him. Repeatedly. Non-stop. Without end. Ask, request, plead—he wants to hear from you!

There is another component to this we need to understand. Satan plays a role. He is crafty (Gen. 3:1) and wants you to believe you are annoying God. He wants to put it in your mind that you are driving God crazy, that all God wants to do is cover his ears when you pray. Nothing could be further from the truth. Do you remember chapter 1? It’s not as if God has had enough and he’s just dealing with your constant groaning, your annoying neediness. No, he’s listening. He’s not covering his ears, but leaning in closer. Don’t believe Satan’s lies. Keep going to the Lord.

Persevering Hope

Christians hope. This hope isn’t like the rest of the world’s hope—one of wishful thinking, of hoping for the best. The Christian hope is based on Christ, on the promises of redemption.It’s not a mere crossing of the fingers, but a certainty. And our Heavenly Father never wants us to second-guess this hope—even when our prayers go unanswered.

When we are praying for something—and praying hard for it—it can be easy to lose hope when God tells us no. We become frustrated, worn-out, and exhausted. But in those moments of frustration and exhaustion is when God wants us to persevere in prayer with hope-filled hearts. He wants us to keep asking, no matter the outcome. Our faithful prayers reveal if we truly trust him.

Let’s think about this from a real-world perspective. Imagine your spouse just got diagnosed with stage-four brain cancer. From a purely scientific standpoint, the odds are slim—there’s practically no hope. Yet, as a person of sincere and abiding faith in God, you pray. You pray everyday for your spouse to be healed. And everyday, she gets worse. Everyday her condition deteriorates. You believe God can heal her but, as of that moment, he hasn’t. Then you start to get discouraged and upset. Who wouldn’t be? You see that God is not answering your prayer and you become disheartened.

What should you do in this situation? Stop praying? By every indication, your spouse is about to pass away and God isn’t answering your prayer. Or do you become persistent in prayer and keep asking, keep pleading, keep crying out to the Lord through your stream of tears? You know he doesn’t guarantee good health, but you know he is a God of miracles and can heal anybody of anything. So you keep praying despite knowing all your prayers for present-day, this-world healing could go unanswered. Nevertheless, you are certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she will experience ultimate healing the moment she passes into the presence of Jesus in glory.

You know God will either perform miraculous healing or will rid her of sin when she passes.

Either way, God is good.