Skip to content Why Must I Keep on Praying Persistently — pt 1 (Prayer, Crisis, Alone) Sep 30 · 24 min ...more
Why Must I Keep on Praying Persistently — pt 1 (Prayer, Crisis, Alone)
September 30, 2025 · 24 min
No matter what crisis we face, God will walk through it with us. In this message, Pastor Rick explains that when we pray, we are talking to a caring, consistent, capable, and close heavenly Father.
Series Seeking God for a Breakthrough September 30, 2025 · 24 min · Seeking God for a Breakthrough
No matter what crisis we face, God will walk through it with us. In this message, Pastor Rick explains that when we pray, we are talking to a caring, consistent, capable, and close heavenly Father. ...more Show the full description Show less No matter what crisis we face, God will walk through it with us. In this message, Pastor Rick explains that when we pray, we are talking to a caring, consistent, capable, and close heavenly Father.
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In this video 0:00 The Power of Persistent Prayer
The Power of Persistent Prayer 0:02 Hey, thanks for joining us today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We are so glad that you found us today. I've got a question for you. Are you feeling stuck? Like maybe you've hit a wall and0:14 just nothing's moving forward. Well, you're not alone and you're not without hope. You know, the Bible is full of people who faced impossible situations like Mary,0:26 Noah, Job, even the Apostle Paul. And they all experienced 1 thing that changed everything, a breakthrough from God. So today Pastor Rick0:37 continues his series called seeking God for a breakthrough. Rick's gonna walk us through biblical accounts of faith, prayer, and perseverance, reminding us that God0:49 still moves in powerful ways. Whether you're in a season of waiting or searching for hope, this series offers encouragement and biblical truth to help you keep going1:01 and get the breakthrough you need. And now let's get to Rick with part 1 of a message called why I must keep on praying persistently.1:11 Today, I want us to look at why must I keep on praying persistently. And the reason why I wanna deal with this is because of all of the mysteries about prayer. And there are a lot of them. There are a lot of things about1:22 prayer I do not understand. I don't always understand how it works with the sovereignty of God and the will of man and when you're praying for other people and they have a free will. I don't understand it all. I know1:33 that just God said, Do it. And he says it over and over and over 20 times in the New Testament. He says, Ask. I want you to ask. You have not because you ask not. Now, since
1:46 our heavenly Father loves us, we know that, And since we know that He wants to answer prayer, He's commanded us to ask for prayer, He has given us multiple promises
1:58 about prayer, and He says, I wanna ask and I wanna answer quickly. He's eager to meet our needs. The question then is, then why do I have to pray more than 1 time?
2:11 Why do I have to make the same request over and over to God? If I want what I'm asking for in prayer and if God is clearly loving and as we saw in the last message He's never gonna give you
2:23 something bad. He's never gonna give you something detrimental He's never gonna give you something harmful or unhelpful, but he will always give you what's good and what's best. He'll never give you a bad gift And if God
2:35 wants to do that, why do I have to ask multiple times? You know, Jesus said, we looked at this last week, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.
2:47 That's a mystery to a lot of people. Why can't I just say 1 time and then God gives it? And he knows that. The Bible many times talks about being persistent in prayer. 1
2:59 example is there on your outline, Colossians chapter 4 verse 2. Be persistent in prayer. In other words, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Don't just pray 1 time about
3:10 something. Keep on praying, be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray. In other words, don't fall asleep when you pray. That's a good principle to remember there. I was resting in the Lord, you know.
3:23 Keep alert as you pray, always giving thanks to God. Now, we've looked 4 times at prayer and every time it adds give thanks when you're asking, that we ask out of a grateful heart.
3:35 Gratitude for the past, we're asking about the future, but he says always be grateful for what God has already given you. So why do I have to ask over and over and over and over and over? Does God have to be cajoled?
3:46 Does he have to be pestered? Does God have to be bothered? Do I have to wear God down? Do I have to beg and beg and beg and bribe and plead and cry and bother? Until finally, just God goes, okay.
3:58 Enough already. Shut up. I I'm gonna give it to you Is that what kind of God we serve the answer is absolutely not That is
4:10 not at all the reason God says I want you to ask multiple times It's not for his benefit and it's it's for our benefit In fact, we're gonna look at 2
4:22 stories today that Jesus told that teach the exact opposite of that idea that I have to wear God down that I have to keep pestering and Bargaining and bribing and then finally that God just goes, okay. I give in you can
4:33 have this In fact Jesus told 2 parables that teach the exact opposite thing Now, by the way, what's a parable? You've heard this word parable a parable
4:45 is simply a story with a point a Parable is not just a story. It's a story with a lesson. It's a story with an insight It's a story with the truth that God wants you to
4:57 get And the Bible tells us that Jesus never taught without using parables. He was the master storyteller. And these stories still relate to us 2000 years later because he was such a
5:09 master storyteller. And he just would deal with slices of life now There are 2 kinds of parables. You need to understand there are comparing Parables and there are contrasting Parables. Let me
5:20 explain this in a comparing parable Jesus tells a story and he's saying this compares to God God is like this Like the loving father in the story of the prodigal son God is like
5:32 that and when when Jesus tells a story where he's saying this is what God is like that's a comparing parable. But sometimes he says God is not like this. That's
5:44 a contrasting parable. It's a contrasting parable. No way people of the world are like this, but God's not like this. The 2 stories we're gonna look at today, they're very brief,
5:56 actually are contrasting. And God is saying, I am not at all like the people in this story. And he's getting rid of the idea that you have to beg and bargain and bribe God to have an answer
6:08 to prayer. So let's look at these 2 stories and then we'll kinda unpack them. The first 1 is in Luke chapter 11 and it's the story of a persistent friend. Look up here on the screen
6:20 and here's what this story's all about. Once, when Jesus had been out praying, His disciples asked, Lord, teach us to pray. We talked about this
6:32 last week. And, by the way, when He said teach us to pray, He taught them what is now known as the Lord's Prayer. And he taught them the model prayer. He says, okay, here's how you start it. Our
6:43 Father, remember we talked about that last week, it all starts with the right relationship. God is not some force in the sky. He's not a force. He's your father. And he's not like any human father who is, you know,
6:54 inconsistent and uncaring and distant and distracted and sometimes demeaning. This god, this father is caring. He's consistent. He's he is competent. He's capable.
7:07 And He is always with you. He's close. And so He says, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
7:19 bread and forgive us our debts, our trespasses, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory
7:30 forever. Amen. But after Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer, He then told them this story. Here's what He says. But then He said, Suppose you went to your
7:42 neighbor's house at midnight. And knocked on his door. Double. And said, an out of town guest has just arrived at my place. He's hungry,
7:54 and I've got nothing to feed him. So I need to borrow 3 loaves of bread. Would you do that with your neighbor? Wake him up at midnight. This is the persistent neighbor. Now your neighbor would
8:06 probably Whisper from the inside of his house. Don't bother me The door's already locked for the night. He's saying this from the bedroom, maybe out the window. The door's already
8:17 locked for the night. We're all in bed. I can't wake up everybody just to help you. Now, he says, but even though he would not help you
8:29 out of friendship at that particular moment, if you keep persistently knocking on his door, he's gonna get up and He's gonna give you
8:41 what you need because of your persistence. All right already. He says you just keep on knocking. So Jesus says, I tell you this. This is a parable by contrast.
8:54 Keep on asking and you'll get it. Keep on seeking and you'll find. And keep on knocking and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receive and everyone who seeks will find. And if
9:06 you keep on knocking, the door will be opened to you. Now, just in case we didn't get that message, he says, I'm not like that guy who's not gonna give it to you out of friendship. He's just giving it to you
9:18 out to get you out of his hair. He says the principle there is you should keep on knocking, you keep on asking, keep on seeking. And Jesus wants you so badly to understand why you should
9:30 pray about something more than once that He doesn't just give you 1 story, He gives us 2. And let's look at the second parable. And in this, he wants to emphasize that you should
9:41 never never never give up praying for something that you're asking for until you've got it. Alright? Now, here's the second story and it's in chapter 18 of Luke and it's
9:53 the first 8 verses. This is called the story of the persistent widow. Similar theme. It's 1 day, this is a different day, Jesus told his disciples another story
10:05 to illustrate that they should always keep on praying and never give up. Now, before we take that verse down, I want you to notice something. He says you should always keep on praying and never give up.
10:17 In your life, you are always doing 1 or the other. If you're not praying, you're giving up. And if you're given up, if
10:29 you're discouraged this weekend, it's because you're not praying. Jesus said we should always pray and not give up. What is the opposite of discouragement? Persistent prayer. What is the
10:41 opposite of not praying persistently? Discouragement. So you can go through life either discouraged or diligent. You can be pressured into feeling bad
10:53 about it or you can be persistent in praying. And he says you're gonna, throughout life, you're always doing 1 or the other. Anytime you get discouraged, you should ask yourself, have I stopped praying persistently?
11:05 That's why you're discouraged, because you've gotten your eyes off of God and onto yourself. On the other hand if you're praying persistently it eliminates discouragement in your life You're gonna pray or you're gonna
11:15 give up now then he says this here's the story There once was a big city judge Jesus says, who didn't care at all about God or people.
11:27 But there was an elderly woman, a elderly widow, who kept coming to this judge over and over, pleading for the judge to protect her rights and do
11:40 something about a man who had cheated her. I want justice. I have my rights. She keeps coming back to the judge over and over. Judge, you gotta help me. And the guy, he doesn't care less about her, he says, or even God.
11:52 Now, it says, for a long time, this judge just ignored her pleas. He couldn't care less about this widow. He has no interest in her, no interest in helping her get justice or, you know, protect
12:03 her rights. The judge just ignored her pleas for help, but eventually he had had enough. So he thought to himself, you know, even though
12:15 I don't care at all about what God or what this woman think, I'm tired of her pestering. I'm tired of her pestering request. So I'm going to see
12:27 that she gets justice just to get her to be quiet and stop bothering me. Note the same theme as the other story. Then the lord said,
12:39 now learn a lesson from this uncaring judge. He says, okay, guys. Get the point here. Even if that corrupt, uncaring this guy has
12:51 no compassion at all. He doesn't care about you or anybody else. Even if that corrupt, uncaring judge eventually gave in to that woman's request, won't God, who
13:02 loves you deeply, he's saying, this guy's not like me, won't God, who loves you deeply, surely give you what is right if you keep crying out to him day
13:14 and night? Jesus tells 2 stories to teach the exact same truth. Anytime Jesus tells 2 stories to teach 1 truth, it's that important.
13:26 Why? You should never give up in praying for something, not to just go, well, I prayed and nothing didn't happen, so I just gave up on it. Now, here's the contrast. He says, God listens
13:38 to you, God cares, and God wants to answer even if people don't, Even if your neighbor doesn't, they think you're being rude, you're in the middle of the night, or even if some unjust, uncaring, unsympathetic judge
13:50 says forget it, I have no time for you, he said God is not like either of them. He listens, he cares, and the point is this, that God is eager to answer your prayers.
14:02 So why then doesn't God just answer it the first time I ask? Why does He want me, and it says over and over scripture, to keep on praying, keep on seeking, keep on asking, keep on
14:14 knocking? Why does God want me to be persistent? So why does God want me and want you to keep praying? The same request over and over and over till he gives it. Why does he
14:26 want us to be persistent? Well, the Bible gives us a number of reasons and none of them have to do with convincing God He already knows your need before you even ask. That's not why you do it.
14:38 There are a number of other reasons you might write these down They're all right here in the scriptures number 1 because it keeps my attention focused on God When you pray about something over
14:50 and over and over. Where's your attention? It's focused on God. Now I've told you this many times that attention is the greatest gift you can give somebody. Guys, the greatest gift,
15:02 if you're married, the greatest gift you can give your wife is your attention. The greatest gift you can give your kids is your attention. Why? Because your attention is your time and your
15:14 time is your life. You're never gonna get that back. You can always give people money, but you can always get more money. But you You can't always get more time back. You've got the same amount of time as everybody else,
15:25 hundred and 68 hours a week. And when you give your attention to somebody, when you when you look someone in the eye, you're saying, you matter to me. You're valuable. You're worth part of my life. It's the highest
15:37 gift you can give. People crave attention. God wants your attention. You know, the Bible says God is constantly thinking about you. How about if you thought about
15:49 somebody all the time and they never thought about you? Well, that probably was true when you were in junior high school. Because there's somebody you thought about all the time and they were totally oblivious to you.
16:02 And you know how painful that was that they did not even notice you when all you could do was think about them because you were in love in your mind with that person. God says, I want your
16:13 attention. And so when you pray about something over and over and over, you give God your attention. God loves to have your attention because He's always thinking about you. 1 of the reasons God loved King David in the
16:25 Old Testament of the Bible is because David gave God His attention all the time. Look at these 2 verses. Psalm 2five 15, David says, my eyes are continually looking to the Lord. That's another
16:37 word for being persistent. I'm continually looking to the Lord for help. And He alone can rescue me from all the traps. Supposed to be plural, all the traps. You know what? You're gonna have a lot of traps in
16:49 your life this next week. He's the only 1 who knows them in advance. Have you ever gone up, a mountain road and you're behind a truck and they're slow and you'd like to pass them, but you can't see around the
17:01 curve? And how great it would be if you could call in a, like a helicopter and they could say, yeah, it's clear around the corner because they could see what you can't see. God
17:13 can see what you can't see. He can see the traps you're gonna have this next week, this next month, and this next year. He says focus on Me continually and I'll show you how to be rescued from all of the traps.
17:25 Psalm 105 verse 4, look to the Lord for His strength. Seek His face how often? Yeah, constantly. Circle that. So it keeps my attention focused on God.
17:37 God wants you to keep asking because it keeps your attention focused on Him. Question. Do you talk to God more when you need something? Of course you do. If you never needed anything, would you talk
17:49 to God as often? No. When do you talk to God the most? When you're in deep pain. So it keeps me focused on God continually. There's a second reason, and it's because having to
18:00 wait teaches me about myself. Having to wait teaches me about myself. You're going to learn some things while you're praying for an answer that
18:12 you won't learn any other way. This is going to be a mind opening message for some of you because you learn not just about God, you learn about yourself when
18:24 you don't get everything you want instantly. When you pray and God says, well, let's just see about how long it's gonna take before that prayer gets answered. Some prayers are answered immediately, but some take times,
18:36 weeks, months. 2 of the most important prayers I've ever prayed, 1 of them took, 13 years and 1 of them took almost 25 years, But God answered it.
18:47 And they were the most important prayers in my life at that time. Why did it take so long? Because while I was working on the prayer, God was working on me. And there are a
18:59 number of tests that happen when you pray about something over and over and over that reveal more about you. Notice this verse. Zechariah says in Zechariah 13
19:11 verse 9. God says I will test and Purify them. That's you and me I'll test and purify them as silver is purified by fire Ever wonder when you're going through the fire
19:23 why you're going through it? It's for testing and it's for purification I will test them as gold is tested. How do you test gold? You put it in a in a big vat and you heat it up until it gets so hot that all the
19:34 impurities are burned off. And how do you know when gold and silver is pure? Because the silversmith can see his reflection in it. God can see his reflection in you when all the impurities have burned
19:46 out of your life. You've been through the fire. He says, then, after I've tested them, after I purified them, then they will be - they will pray to Me and I will
19:58 answer. Notice that the prayer's answer comes after the test. Does that sound vaguely familiar? We spent 10 weeks on Daniel, looking at 10 tests of Daniel, and I said before
20:10 every blessing there is a testing. And God tests you with stress before He trusts you with success. That principle of Daniel's life is 1 of the principles of
20:22 persistent prayer. God is gonna test you before he blesses you. And he says, I'm gonna test you. And in this test, you're gonna learn a lot about yourself. If you give up praying, you're never gonna learn these
20:33 lessons. You say, well, what do I learn? What do I specifically learn about myself when I have to pray specifically and persistently? Well, let me just mention 4 areas. There are 4 areas that God wants
20:45 me to grow, wants you to grow. Write these down. The first would be this, praying persistently tests my desires. Praying persistently tests my desires.
20:58 And what that means is I ask the question, what do I really want?
21:09 Hey. Thanks for listening to pastor Rick's Daily Hope. And now here's pastor Rick with a letter from 1 of our listeners.
21:16 You know, we get letters and emails from people all around the world and from all ages. And here's 1 that I got from a listener in Indonesia. His name is Steven, and he's 12 years old. He wrote,
21:28 Dear Pastor Rick, thank you for the powerful way that you've impacted my life. I'm just a 12 year old schoolboy in Jakarta, Indonesia, but I listen to the broadcast every morning on the
21:40 way to school. My life has changed completely this year. I'm at a new school and my family's just about recovered from some financial problems, but I'm still having to learn a whole new way of
21:52 life. Some days I really feel bad and I ask God to help me. But then the daily hope broadcast comes on the radio and you always say something that helps me feel better and I know that at that moment,
22:03 God is trying to speak directly to me through you. So thank you ever so much. Well, thank you ever so much, Steven. I love hearing from people like you,
22:15 literally all around the world, who've been impacted through through Daily Hope. You know, by the way, I wanna thank all of those of you who support us regularly with your financial gifts every month.
22:27 We can't do this without you. But because of you, we're able to minister to people like this 12 year old, boy, Steven, in Jakarta, Indonesia. You're never gonna know this side of
22:39 heaven, the number of lives that you have impacted because of your gifts to Daily Hope. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. When we get to heaven, we're all gonna rejoice and
22:51 see the results there. Hey. If you'd
22:53 like to support pastor Rick's Daily Hope, just go to pastor rick dot com. That's pastor rick dot com, or you can text the word hope to 7 0 3 0 9. That's the word
23:05 hope to 7 0 3 0 9. And really, from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope helps us share the hope of Christ with people everywhere.
23:17 Hey, be sure to join us next time when we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.
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