We all want our prayers to get answered right away. When we don't see the answer immediately, we can be tempted to stop praying. I've had people ask me, "How do I know when I should give up on a prayer. My answer is always the same…never! We can never quit turning to God. If you quit talking to God, you might start looking to man, and man can never do what God can!
Scripture says the fervent prayer of the righteous avails much. Fervent prayers are powerful and effective, but do you know who prays fervent prayers? Someone who is passionate, and you know what makes a person pray passionately? When they believe what they are praying!
In Luke 18, we see this type of person. Jesus is talking about a widow woman who is alone. She doesn't have anyone fighting for her, and she needs some justification. So she goes by herself to the judge who wasn't a just judge. He didn't really like people and didn't fear God. So this widow woman brought her petition to this unjust judge, and he denied her request. But she didn't give up. She didn't "tuck her tail" and go home. No, she tried again.
Day after day, she went back and presented her case. She was passionate and determined. She kept showing up and not giving up. Jesus tells that one day that judge said, "I'm tired of this woman. I have to get her off my back." So he granted her request simply because she was so persistent! It wasn't about her, her request, who she knew, or what she had or had done. Her request was granted because she kept asking.
Notice this woman didn't put any limits on her request. She didn't say, "I'm going to try three times and if it doesn't work, I'll stop asking." No, she was a passionate woman, and she was going to ask until she got what she needed.
The Bible says that God is pleased with the passionate prayer of the righteous. It's not about the length of your prayer, it's the strength of your faith—your passion. Today, I want to encourage you to keep knocking and don't give up. Be the type of person who is passionate about prayer because that is the kind of person who will also be effective in prayer!
"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9, NLT)