PUSH

The title of this post is a well known acrostic that stands for "Pray Until Something Happens."  Our grandfathers called it "praying through."  One writer on prayer (whose name I long ago forgot) compared much of our praying to the action of children at play, ringing someone's doorbell and then running away before anyone opens the door.  How often do we make requests of the Lord but fail to keep asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7:7-8) until we know we have received an answer?

Jesus emphasized persistence in His teaching about prayer.  In one parable a widow pesters a judge until he grants her request just to get rid of her.  The lesson is not that God has to be persuaded or cajoled to answer us but that we "should always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1 NIV).  Jesus insisted that we persist in the parable of the importunate neighbor who wouldn't let his friend rest until he loaned him bread (Luke 11:3-13).  This parable is directly connected to His teaching of the Model Prayer.

Perseverance is demonstrated by the great men of prayer.  Abraham haggled with God over the number of righteous that would spare Sodom and Gomorrah.  The cities were not spared but Lot was, which I assume was his main concern (Genesis 18:16-33).  Note that Abraham prayed until "the Lord had finished speaking" (verse 33 NIV).  Daniel prayed and fasted for three weeks until the angel came with the answer he was seeking (Daniel 10).  Paul prayed three times (perhaps a number symbolic of repeated prayer) for the thorn in the flesh to be removed, ceasing to plead only when the Lord answered with His assurance of grace (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  Most importantly, we see Jesus praying three times for the cup to pass from Him (Mark 14:32-42), praying until He knew His hour had come.  If Jesus persevered in prayer, so should we.

There are three steps in prayer.  Most people think of only two: asking and receiving.  But there is a third step, one that comes between the asking and the receiving: knowing.  We clearly see this step in the teaching of 1 John 5:14-15:  This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we KNOW that He hears us--whatever we ask--we KNOW that we have what we asked of Him (emphasis added).  Ask--know--receive: those are the key steps in prayer.

Let us persevere in prayer until the Holy Spirit assures our spirit that we have been heard.  We may know that God has granted our request, or we may know that He has something better to give us.  And what if we never know?  We keep praying until we receive.

Our prayer for the nations is so big that we may never fully know we have been heard.  But as He leads us to pray for specific things, like which people group to embrace, we can keep on praying until He answers.  Let's not give up.