BE PERSISTENT!
Jesus says, “EVERYONE WHO CONTINUES ASKING WILL
RECEIVE” [Mt 7:8 (IC)]{Lk 11:10}. Many people pray to God desiring
an immediate result. Most of the time when Jesus prayed for healing,
people were healed immediately. A distinct difference is Jesus said that God
told Him what to "SAY" [Jn 12:49] and what to "DO" [Jn 14:31]. We
need to consult God prior to praying. One illustration is found when Jesus
went to a place where there were many sick people. Jesus only went to one
of them, who had been sick for 38 years and he did not know who Jesus
was. Jesus asked him "DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?" After
receiving a lengthy reply, Jesus said "GET UP! PICK UP YOUR MAT
AND WALK" [Jn 5:2-14 NI] and that man was healed. As we believe what
Jesus said about God guiding Him, we realize the only explanation for
going to that particular man was God's guidance. If we know we are
praying what God wants us to pray we will persist even when the results
are not immediate. After telling a story about a man responding to his
friend's persistence, Jesus said, "CONTINUE TO ASK, AND GOD
WILL GIVE TO YOU" [Lk 11:5-9 IC]. One time this century a man’s
eyes were healed from wearing glasses, after he prayed for over 25 years.
Even then the healing was not immediate as God told him to take off his
glasses and his eyes kept getting better for over a year and a half before his
vision was good enough to have his restriction removed from his driving
license. Jesus our role model ministered to a blind man and then asked
“CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING?” [Mk 8:23-25 GN] After a response that
people looked like trees walking around, Jesus placed His hands on him a
second time and then he could see normally. Jesus persisted and so should
we. Do you persist in your prayers?
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