Prayer and the Gospel – Persevere in Prayer

PERSEVERE IN PRAYER

Col. 4:2 Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving
John 14:13-14 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

We must learn to pray continually. George Müller is a good example of someone who prayed continually. According to his autobiography, everyone for whom he prayed eventually was saved. At the time of his death, only one or two were not saved. Later, however, even they were saved. There is the need for persistence in prayer. If we pray for a short time and do not see immediate results, we may be disappointed. Instead, we should pray continually and not give up. We do not know when the people in our prayers will be saved. George Müller even prayed for one person over a period of about forty years. We also should persistently pray for our contacts and even pray for them together with other saints. The ones that we mention before the throne of the Lord, asking in His name, will be saved (John 14:13-14). We must fulfill our priestly service by praying to bring people to the Lord. We should put them on our breast and shoulders (Exo. 28:29-30), bearing them in love and in power into the presence of the Lord. After we pray in this manner, we will be authorized and filled with the word. The word is our authority to go to the people as kings. We are both priests and kings (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6). We are priests, so we can pray for the sinners to bring them to God, and we are kings, so we can bring God to the sinners. First we bring sinners to the Lord, and then we bring the Lord to sinners. When we go to the Lord with sinners by praying, we are priests. When we come to sinners with the Lord by preaching, we are kings. As kings, our speaking has authority. People will realize that our speaking is not ordinary but weighty.