Persistent Prayer vs. One-time prayer. Which one should you be doing ?

Oh the confusion I have encountered on this subject ! One side of the argument says to continue praying until you see results and I have heard the other side argue that praying repeatedly about the same thing is a sign of unbelief. It was truly a point of confusion to me until recently. It pays to study the Word and understand it for yourself like I was saying in a post yesterday.

It turns out that both methods of prayer are just fine ! In fact in Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about the woman who kept bugging a judge to administer justice on her behalf. He did not pay any attention to her the first time she asked him so she asked him again and again...and again until he finally was exasperated and attended to her plea. Of course, I don't believe God gets exasperated with his children who are truly seeking His help but Jesus was making a point. 

Also [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up). - Luke 18:1 

Jesus actually recommended persistent prayer and it is not a sign of unbelief ! The woman in Jesus' parable believed that her redemption would come from this judge and so she was relentless in her requests. She did not lose heart just because she had asked a few times and saw no results. That woman kept right on asking until she got exactly what she needed. If we believe in the Lord to be our ultimate source of joy, comfort, healing and help, we too have to be so convinced of God's ability to answer our heart's cry that we do not stop praying until we see answers to prayer.

The Lord is looking for people who are seeking Him in spirit and in truth. I really believe that is more important to Him than whether we pray once or multiple times about the same thing. But, pray, we must !

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This is the third installment on a series I have been doing on prayer. Please read the first two posts here. 

You are loved relentlessly by a powerful Savior !

Gertrude

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