Perseverance in Prayer

In seeking a topic for our blog this month I was led to Isaiah 62:6-7. You who remind the Lord, take no rest, until he establishes Jerusalem.

It feels like we (as well as many of you) have been bringing our sister churches of East Africa to the Lord’s attention for quite awhile. We remind Him of their needs, lift them up, seeking direction for them and requesting God’s mercy, grace and power to be displayed on their behalf. Sometimes we get discouraged with the seeming lack of fruit from our prayers. Are our prayers not effective, are we not praying according to the will of the Father? Do we even know how to pray for them? This verse suggests that our job is to remind God--to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking (Matt. 7:7-11, note present tense). No rest, until HE establishes it. We often forget that our Father is a generous Father, a righteous Father, a Father who rewards persistent prayer. He is not our servant, but we, and the churches we serve, belong to Him and serve his purposes. Perhaps we desire our own agenda more than His, or seek our own answers rather than understanding God himself?

So reminding, is not suggesting, or trying to manipulate God into a certain action, but leaving the need, the work, to Him to perform in his own time and way. But reminding is an ongoing task for us, a persistent cry for His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. And our Father is able to establish the church and bring it to pass.

We ask your persistence in prayer for the needs of the churches, the leaders, the Bible College, and the TEE program. Satan is persistent in his attacks on all that we attempt in the name of the Father, so we must counteract his power to destroy and kill. We praise God for already conquering and doing exceedingly more than we are able to ask or think!!