The persistence of prayer.

How long can you pray? 

I remember taking a walk, soon after being turned loose from the seminary, and I was determined to pray. I was now a pastor who was endowed with the responsibility of teaching others the concepts of discipleship. Prayer is one of those supreme concepts. On this walk I specifically remember thinking, “Let’s see how long I can pray. I wonder if I can pray for an hour, a half an hour, maybe 45 minutes?”

So as I walked, I started talking to God. I had requests for our mission church to grow. I laid at Jesus’ feet my desire for a stronger faith, for a healthy family, for more insight on what it means to be a father (because my wife and I now had one little one of our own). I prayed about the hazy, cloudy day. My words gave thanks for the great breakfast that I enjoyed with my wife that morning. I reflected on the exercise group that I was a part of. Then, after five minutes, I was exhausted and out of thoughts to share. That magnificent prayer that I had envisioned praying did not last 60 minutes, not even 25 minutes. I had maybe squeaked out 4 minutes and 55 seconds of legitimate prayers and then I was pooped.

As we continue to look at prayer this month, I find it fascinating that Luke 18, and more specifically 1 Thessalonians 5, cover the topic of persistent prayer: it’s not about how long you can pray before you take a break; rather it’s about how long you break before you begin your prayer again. 

It’s not about how long you can pray before you take a break; rather it’s about how long you break before you begin your prayer again.

Paul tells the Thessalonians, “pray continually.” The word for “continually” means that praying will continue without any unnecessary intervals. It is the prayer that is to be continual and the break that is timed at 5 minutes or 2 minutes. In other words, the life of a disciple of Jesus is one of persistent, continual prayer that will only be punctuated by occasional breaks.

That means that I will be persistent in tugging at Jesus’ ear. He is going to hear from me from morning to night. My words to him will not simply be at meal time or bedtime, they will be throughout the day, conversing with him on every topic that hits the widescreen of my mind.

Let me just say, “Wow!” That challenges me. But it also reassures me. My prayer time can be a continuous trail of thoughts that I am purposely sharing with Jesus. I can rush through the gas station and thank Jesus for petrol. I can scarf down some coffee and a doughnut with a prayer of thanks for this sustenance and this treat. I can be persistent in my grievances and I can persist in my praise of his calling. I’m not so much trying harder to find things to pray for; I’m adjusting my attitude to include all my thoughts as a part of a larger conversation with my personal Savior Jesus, knowing that he and my Heavenly Father simply love to hear from me daily (as per last week’s message on the Path to Prayer).

I’m not so much trying harder to find things to pray for; I’m adjusting my attitude to include all my thoughts as a part of a larger conversation with my personal Savior Jesus, knowing that he and my Heavenly Father simply love to hear from me daily.

Will I be persistent on a particular topic or agenda? I probably will. But it seems that more of the point is that I will persist from day to day in a continual conversation with God, my Creator. Will you join with me in a persistent conversation with God?

And may you be blessed as you do pursue God in prayer.
Pastor Al