Luke 18: 1-8

It can be the same with prayer. At times, what we are praying for will get a green light and we will see our prayer answered. It's like God is saying: 'go...I will answer that one now'. Other times we have to really persist and wait a while before we see an answer to our prayers. Like the orange lights, there is probably some traffic that needs to clear before we get the go ahead, so God says: 'slow'. Other times it may seem that God does not answer our prayer at all. I guess that is like a red light where God says no. They are the hardest ones, but they are always for our own good. When God doesn't seem to answer a prayer at all it's probably because what we are praying is not the best thing for us. You see God's will is to give us the best and if we are praying for something that will compromise that, it stands to reason that we wouldn't see that prayer answered. When I was in primary school I once asked God to let me marry my supply teacher. Quite obviously that wouldn't have been the best thing for me, so God simply said no!

Of course it is much more complex than that, there are other factors involved, but it is a start.

Sometimes God is doing far more than we realize

While we don't always see our prayers answered in the way we think is best, I do believe that whenever we pray God responds and something happens. Here are just a few verses that convince me of this: Proverbs 15: 29, 1 Peter 3: 12, John 15: 7.

So what happens when we pray persistently?

• It draws us closer to God
  It says in Luke 18: 3 that the widow in the parable had to keep coming back to the judge. When we are persistent in prayer it means we have to keep coming back to God! We have to keep meeting with Him and let me tell you, there is something amazing that happens when we meet with God. I heard a story once of a man who fell in love with his real estate agent because he had to keep coming back and meeting with her over and over again. They are married now! As we come to God, he meets with us. Just spending time coming before him draws us closer to him and changes us.
• It helps us pray God's way
  John 15: 7 says 'if you remain in me... you will receive whatever we ask for.' When we have to keep coming back to God, when we have to keep meeting with him, it puts us back into his arms and when we are there we start to hear his heartbeat. When we hear his heart beat, our heart beat will begin to beat in turn with his and our prayers will start to match his heart beat. Sometimes we will realize that what we first began praying is not the best prayer...that God has an even better way and that empowers us to pray his way.

  I remember my first experience of queuing for a chip van at a concert. When I first joined the queue I was sure that what I wanted on my chips was tomato sauce. Then as I got closer to the start of the line I realized that there was also curry sauce and gravy available! I saw that there was more on the menu board than I first thought and when I get close enough to smell the curry, I just knew that it would taste sweeter than what I was first set on!

• It helps build our faith
  When we keep bringing something before God, it builds our passion and commitment for the thing we are praying for. It builds your dependence on God as the one you should approach with your needs and it builds our faith in him as the answerer.

So whatever circumstance you are in, whether you have seen all your prayers answered, or you seem to be stuck at a red light, be encouraged and don't lose heart. Being persistent and coming back to God is the best way forward!