Marathon Prayers

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Prayer. I know it is important. I know it is powerful. But sometimes I doubt, become complacent, or wane in my prayers when I do not see an answer in the time frame I deemed reasonable.

“It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer until we obtain an answer.” - George Muller

The life and legacy of George Muller is nothing if not inspiring. When I read the above quote recently I was again convicted of the importance of marathon prayers. I think most of us—myself included—want 100-meter sprint prayers. The kind where we ask God to open a door and twenty seconds after we say “amen” we get a phone call offering us the job we interviewed for just yesterday.

God does that. He answers prayers in minutes. And. . . He also answers prayers in days, weeks, months, years, decades.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that if we don’t get an answer to prayer in a certain time we should assume that it is not God’s will and stop praying for it. In fact, it says quite the opposite:

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
- Luke 11:5-13

Jesus tells this parable to teach us about persistence and endurance in prayer—marathon praying. Now, this is not to say that if you ask for a new car over and over it will eventually show up in your garage. God gives “good gifts” to His children. And sometimes what we presume to be the “good gift” is not ultimately “good” for us. At times I have gotten hung up wondering if what I’m praying for is not God’s good for me so I just stop praying. So what I have learned to do over the years is pray first that God align my desires with His desires. If the Holy Spirit convicts me that my prayers are not in God’s will, that is a reason to stop asking for that. However, more often, I do not have that clarity or conviction and just become apathetic in praying for something that I have not seen answered after months or years of praying.

Image source: https://www.georgemuller.org/quotes/never-give-up-praying

Father God, I know that you give good gifts to your children. You are so kind. And you are so patient. Please help me to have a marathon attitude in my prayers—not looking for quick results, but remaining faithful and persistent in my prayers, believing that You will answer (even if it is not in the way I hoped each time). Thank you for the reminders from Your Word and the lives of great people of prayer like George Muller. And thank you for the amazing privilege of talking to you anytime and anywhere through prayer. May I not take that for granted. Amen.