Prayerful Persistence

“And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, ‘Go up now, look toward the sea.’ And he went up and looked and said, ‘There is nothing.’ And he said, ‘Go again,’ seven times. And at the seventh time he said, ‘Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’”

—1 Kings 18:42-44

To pray effectively we must be persistent. Notice the power of Elijah’s prayer. There had been no rain in Israel for three and a half years, all at Elijah’s word. Not because there was power in Elijah; no, it was because he was praying in accordance with God’s will revealed through His Word. God had warned the nation that famine would come if the nation continued in its idolatry (cf. Deuteronomy 11:16-17; 28:15, 24; 1 Kings 8:35-36).

Elijah bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. He was concentrating—focusing on God in prayer. And what did he say to his servant? He said, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” Elijah prayed expectantly. But notice the servant’s response, “There is nothing.” Seven times he heard his servant say, “There is nothing.” How often have you heard that when you prayed? How often have you heard, after praying for the salvation of your spouse: There is nothing. Or having prayed for a spouse—there is nothing. Or praying for that degree, that job, that raise, that relief? There is nothing. I know many men and women who prayed for the salvation of their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles only to hear—there is nothing. There is nothing. What painful and discouraging words! But what does Elijah do? How does faith respond? Like Jacob, it wrestles! Faith continues to fight. Faith continues to believe. He says, “Go again.” What does he do? He gets rid of the disappointment and keeps on!

He cared more about seeing God work than anything else. I am reminded of Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. The stories of him are legendary. When he got older and was traveling all over China preaching, he would be found on his knees in a corner praying. It has been said that “The guiding precept of Hudson Taylor’s ministry: To move man, through God, by prayer alone”—Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, by Harold & Geraldine Taylor, p. 17.

Elijah had a desire to see God work, and he prayed that way. He knew the truth of Martin Luther’s statement, “Prayer is a powerful thing, for God has bound and tied Himself thereto.” Or as John Piper tweeted it, “Beware of dreaming too small or asking God for too little”—John Piper, Tweet, March 19, 2011. We fail to pray well because we fail to understand who God is and why we need to pray.

The Bible tells us that we are soldiers in a war—a spiritual war between God and Satan. And God has equipped us with the weapon of prayer. Paul writes, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds”—2 Corinthians 10:4.

For Elijah it was his walkie-talkie to God. As John Piper wrote,

“Prayer is the walkie-talkie on the battlefield of the world. It calls on God for courage (Eph. 6:19). It calls in for troop deployment and target location (Acts 13:1-3). It calls in for protection and air cover (Matt. 6:13; Luke 21:36). It calls in for fire power to blast open a way for the Word (Col. 4:3). It calls in for the miracle of healing for the wounded soldiers (James 5:16). It calls in supplies for the forces (Matt. 6:11; Phil. 4:6). And it calls in the needed reinforcements (Matt. 9:38). This is the place of prayer—on the battlefield of the world. It is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom to increase the comforts of the saints. And one of the reasons it malfunctions in the hands of so many Christian soldiers is that they have gone AWOL”—John Piper, The Pleasures of God, p. 9.

May we all persevere in prayer like Elijah! May prayer be our walkie-talkie to God on the battlefield of the world! And may God honor our prayerful persistence by answering us when we call! God delights in having us come to Him in prayerful expectation! He delights in glorifying Himself and working His will for and through saints praying according to His will! Amen.