Relentless Prayer
Prayer is a gift given to us by God to pour our hearts to Him. In His graciousness, God provides us with the opportunity to reach Him through prayers regardless of our shortcomings, social status, ethnicity and education. Apart from prayer being a medium by which we communicate with God, prayer teaches us to be patient, to persevere and to be attentive to the voice of God. Prayer teaches us to navigate life not with our physical strength but with the backing of a higher authority. Many characters in scripture fought life’s battles with prayers. Hannah is an excellent example in 1 Samuel chapter 1.
Hannah was one of the two wives of Elkanah. Peninnah, the other wife, had children, but Hannah did not. God allowed the womb of Hannah to be shut; she was “barren”. Peninnah was in the habit of teasing and making fun of Hannah whenever they travelled to Shiloh to worship God at the Tabernacle. This continued for years, and Hannah’s response to Peninnah’s mockery would be to cry and refuse food.
It was one thing for Hannah to be “barren”, but it was another for Peninnah to make fun of her year after year. Hannah’s womb was shut by no fault of her own, and in the same vein, many of us find ourselves in challenging situations that we did not create. We live in a fallen world, demonstrated by the battles we face daily in our lives. Therefore, it hurts when people mock us for battles we did not choose. However, we will remain in a place of sorrow like Hannah until we realise the world is a battlefield where you continuously fight or perish. You cannot attain victory on this battlefield by weeping and crying. This battle succumbs only to the weapon of prayers.
In 1 Samuel 1:9, NLT “Hannah got up and went to pray”. It was no longer business as usual. Hannah realised a weapon in her arsenal she had not employed in this battle; prayer. Until we get up to pray, we cannot complain of defeat. Hannah had to make a personal decision to leave the seat of sorrow for the seat of victory. In the realm of prayer, victory or defeat is decided. Isn’t it interesting that Hannah visited Shiloh every year with the same problem and left without a solution until she offered a specific prayer about her situation? Access to the Tabernacle does not equate to victory. Like Hannah, some of us are regular churchgoers, we attend every worship service, but we do not pray when faced with a problem. When we do, it is haphazardly and lacks any conviction or sincerity. God has given us a free will to make choices, including a free will to make requests (Matthew 7:7). If you do not open your mouth to ask, do not expect to be given. Rather than whine, complain and weep, pray consistently and persistently.
Hannah’s prayer was persistent and focused. Even when Eli the Priest misinterpreted her voiceless prayer, she wasn’t angry with him or discouraged. Instead, she graciously let him know that she was pouring her soul before the Lord (1 Samuel 1:15). She was not going to allow an inaccurate judgement to derail the focus of her heart and prayer. The devil uses various schemes to blow out the fire of our prayer altar. In the case of Hannah, it was in the form of an unfair judgement, but she recognised and defeated it. For some of us, it may be in the form of prayers that appear not to be answered, unconfessed sin, disobedience or lack of faith. The devil aims to keep you from praying because he knows he has no leverage over a prayerful life.
I was recently overwhelmed with thoughts of the growing responsibilities in all aspects of my life. These thoughts weighed me down, and there was a cloud of sadness in my demeanour for a short while. I was inspired to put an end to the sadness creeping into my life when I saw something I have always glossed over in the story of Hannah. Hannah was no longer sad after she prayed (1 Samuel 1:18). Prayer can take away the burden and yoke of sadness. So I decided to pray this sadness away. The more sadness I felt, the more I increased the consistency of my prayers. I learned a valuable lesson that a key solution to discouragement, despair and depression in the life of a believer is not fewer prayers but more consistent prayers.
Never stop praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NLT)
Perhaps you are looking back at the year, and you can’t find anything positively significant that happened to you. Do not dwell on such thoughts; get on your knees and engage in relentless prayers. Maybe you are sad because everyone around you is praising God for the same blessings you desire and have prayed for, but you don’t have them. I want to let you know that your prayers are not in vain, keep at it and be focused. Like Jacob wrestled with the angel even with a hurt thigh, keep wrestling in the place of prayer even when you feel hurt (Genesis 32:24-26). Don’t stop praying in faith until God answers you or redirect your heart to His sovereign will.
As the year winds down to its close, do not allow the answered or unanswered prayers of the year to keep you away from praying consistently. End this year praying and walk into the new year praying. I’ll conclude with a song we sang before we prayed in Sunday school as kids:
Prayer is the key
Prayer is the key
Prayer is the master key
Jesus started with Prayers
And ended with Prayers
Prayer is the master key
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16, NLT) (emphasis added)
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