PERSISTENT FAITH

 

PERSISTENT FAITH by: Paul Osteen, M.D.

Feb. 22, 2012 Wednesday Night
(Slightly modified in part by Tonie Bouyer)

It’s time for us to be persistent in our faith and persistent in our prayers because we all have battles seemingly with no end in sight...so let’s look at three long passages of scripture to help us in our endeavor to  walk persistently with God in our faith walk and in our prayer life.

Luke 18:1-8 (Parable of the persistent widow)

¹And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint; ²saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man: ³and there was a widow in that city; and she came oft unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. ⁴And he would not for a while:  but afterward he said within himself, though I fear not God, nor regard man; ⁵yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming.  ⁶And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge saith.  ⁷And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them?  ⁸I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

This parable teaches us that we should always pray and never give up, never faint, never get discouraged, never quit.  God is not like the unjust Judge who is uncaring and unconcerned about the woman’s suffering and justice, unwilling to be bothered with her problems, and unwilling to help.  On the contrary, God our Heavenly Father is caring, He’s compassionate, He’s concerned about what we are going through, He listens to our cries of help and He’s always, always willing to help us!  Satan will do his best to try and convince us that God doesn’t hear us, that we’re a bother to God when we cry out to him and plead and pray to Him; however, that most definitely is not the truth.

1 Peter 3:12

¹²For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those that who evil.

God doesn’t want us to beg, but to cry out or call out or shout out in a loud voice.  He wants us use our voice. Plus, we simply cannot be moved by the size of the problem(s) we’re facing. We can’t let thoughts of defeat, or thoughts of despair and worse case scenarios bombarded our mind.  We cannot afford to sit back passively. We must shout back...talk back...call out to God telling Him that we need His help concerning the problem, putting all our trust in Him and not concerning our self with the outcome but trusting God because He’s bigger than our problem. Amen.

Jeremiah 3:33

³Call on me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things and mighty things that you know not of.

James 5:16

¹⁶Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.

            [Say: My prayer is powerful and it’s effective.]

Never forget that God can deliver us in an instant but sometimes it doesn’t seem speedily; however, God will deliver us.  So, when we don’t see the answer immediately when we pray, and we cry out, and we pray, and we cry out, and we do it in the day time, and we do in the night time, and we do it in faith, and we continue for weeks or months, years even...what we have to realize is that even though we don’t see the answer, we can rest assured that God has heard us.  We can rest assured that He is working on our behalf.  We can rest assured that the tide of the battle, once we pray, has begun to turn and the answer is on the way...it will come.  This is where persistence comes in.  We must rest in God’s timing and trust Him because He is working behind the scenes for our good.

2 Peter 3:9

⁹The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

What practical things can we do?

First, use God’s word.  It is one thing to pray about our problem(s) but it’s another thing to pray the Word about our problem(s). We must not forget to put God in remembrance of His Word.

Ex. It’s one thing to pray about God delivering my son, but instead pray, God you said in your word as for me and my house we will serve the Lord;

Ex. It’s another thing to pray God heal my back, but instead pray, God you’ve been Jehovah-Rapha, since the Old Testament, and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. You are still God our healer and you’re going to heal me and you’re going to touch me.

Second, remember to combine your prayer with praise and thanksgiving as you thank God in advance because praise precedes the victory!

Ex. Father thank you that you’ve heard my prayers. Thank you Father that the answers on the way. Thank you Father that I can trust you with this situation. Thank you Father that the healing is coming, deliverance is coming, the child is coming back to you, the marriage is restored...

Luke 11:5-13 (Parable of A friend who comes at midnight)

⁵And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? ⁸I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

            Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking

⁹“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

The point Jesus is making is that we should be bold, we should be shamelessly persistent and we should be fearless when we ask God for things. Ask and keep on asking.  Seek and keep on seeking.  Knock and keep on knocking.

Hebrews 4:16

¹⁶Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Like the Canaanite women with the issue of blood, she was shamelessly persistent...she would not take no for an answer...she continued to push through, and push through…she got to Jesus touching the helm of his garment she was instantly healed (Mark 5:24-34).   For all of us in the battle, God commends us for continuing to be persistent and asking and staying in an attitude of faith.

Matthew 15:21-28 (A Gentile Shows Her Faith)

²¹Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” ²³But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” ²⁴But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”  ²⁷And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

This Canaanite woman is an example for us because she would not take “no” for an answer.  She wouldn’t take “no” when it seemed like God was silent. She wouldn’t take “no” and get defensive or offended.  She wouldn’t take “no” when it seemed like there was no answer.  She persisted, she continued to ask and cry out to God.

These three examples should help us to see what our attitude should be like when we are facing challenges that come our way.  We all have things that we are praying about (a wayward child, a sickness that won’t leave our body, a marriage that needs restoration, a financial breakthrough) but like the persistent widow, always pray and never give up, keep crying out day and night, keep shouting out and crying out to God because He promises to protect us, to defend us and to avenge us from our enemy.

Like the man who needed the bread, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, be bold, be shamelessly persistent and you will get your breakthrough!

Lastly, like the Canaanite woman have a never quit attitude.  Don’t let anything stop you, don’t let anything deter you, don’t take no for an answer until you get the miracle God has in store for you. Amen.