PERSISTENCE In PRAYER

 
PERSISTENCE In PRAYER
by David Wilkerson

Some Bible teachers claim it is unbelief for us to ask God for the
same request over and over. No-that is wrong and it has weakened
the faith of multitudes. God commands us to ask, seek, fast-and
cry out in effectual, earnest supplication (see Matthew 7:7).

From the very beginning, true servants have turned God´s promises
into prayers:

o Jesus knew His Father had promised all things to Him before
the foundation of the world, yet Christ still spent hours praying for
God´s will to be done on earth. He even told a parable illustrating
persistence in prayer. It involved an "importunate widow" who kept
demanding justice from a judge until she got it (see Luke 18:1-8).

o God gave Ezekiel wonderful prophecies about Israel´s restoration,
promising that the nation´s ruins would become as the Garden of
Eden. Yet the Lord said His Word would not be fulfilled without
prayer: "I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to
do it for them" (Ezekiel 36:37). In other words, "I´ve made you a
promise but I want you to pray it to pass. Seek Me with all your
heart, until you see it fulfilled. I will deliver-but first you must ask."

o Daniel had read God´s promise to Jeremiah (Daniel 9:2) that after
seventy years Israel would be restored. When Daniel saw the
appointed year arrive, he could have waited in faith for God to fulfill
His promise but instead, that godly man fell on his face and prayed
for two weeks-until he saw the Lord bring everything to pass.
In the Old Testament, Israel´s priest carried on his breastplate the
names of all the tribes of Israel. This signified that the people´s
needs were continually on the priest´s heart in prayer. To Christians
today, this provides a wonderful image of Christ carrying us in His
heart and presenting our needs to the Father. Moreover, every
Christian today is a priest unto the Lord and we are always to
carry the needs of others in our hearts (see James 5:14-16).

-Source-

http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/node/27045

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