Persistence in Prayer

Excerpt from John Piper, When God Says "Not Now"

"Lesson #4: Persistence in prayer will prevail where giving up won't.

This comes from verses [Luke 11] 5–8. Jesus tells a parable to illustrate exactly this point.

5And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at
midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, 6for a friend of mine
has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7and he will
answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are
with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? 8I tell you, though he
will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of
his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

What's the point of this parable? The point is given in verses 9 and 10: Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking; keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

Why compare answered prayer to a friend who is unwilling to get out of bed for the sake of friendship, but willing to get out of bed to stop the knocking on his door? Is it to say that God is tired or irritable or stingy? That can't be, because he is so ready and able to give in verse 13. Then what's the reason for this parable?

I think it is simply a striking, shocking way of saying, God has his reasons for waiting that for us may seem as strange and provocative as a friend who doesn't want to get out of bed but then does. At first he doesn't give the $1.1 million, and then he will—if we keep knocking. If we keep knocking—that is clear. If the friend had gone home after the first refusal, he would not have gotten the bread he needed. But since he stayed and kept on knocking, he got "as much as he needed" (verse 8). The point for Bethlehem: Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

This is a hard lesson about prayer. But it is clearly biblical: Persistence in prayer will prevail with God where giving up won't. It is so biblical and so important that Wesley Duewel wrote a whole book on it called Mighty Prevailing Prayer (Zondervan Publishing House, 1990). In his chapter on this text called "The Dynamic of Importunity," he quotes Andrew Murray,

[Importunity] begins with the refusal to at once accept a denial. It grows to
the determination to persevere, to spare no time or trouble, till an answer
comes. It rises to the intensity in which the whole being is given to God in
supplication, and the boldness comes to lay hold of God's strength. (p. 80)

Thomas Watson, a Puritan pastor from 350 years ago, asked in his book, Body of Divinity, "Why does God delay an answer to prayer?" In other words, why would God ever keep us asking and seeking and knocking when he could respond sooner? He gives four answers (Baker Book House, 1979, pp. 399–400). I give these to you for your pondering as we press on in prayer for Freeing the Future:

1. Because he loves to hear the voice of prayer. "You let the musician play a great while before you throw him down money, because you love to hear this music."
2. That he may humble us. We may too easily assume we merit some ready answer, or that he is at our beck and call like a butler, not as sovereign Lord and loving Father.
3. Because he sees we are not yet fit or ready for the mercy we seek. It may be he has things to put in place—in us or in our church or in the world. There are a million pieces to the puzzle. Some things go first to make a place for the others.
4. Finally, that the mercy we pray for may be the more prized, and may be sweeter when it comes. "