Pray with Tenacity

Luke 8:43–48

Matthew 8:5–13

Ephesians 6:12

Matthew 11:12

I know right when you see the title to today’s thought, you might be thinking, What? Pray with tenacity? What in the world does that mean? Well, throughout the Bible, we see the people of God praying with passion and purpose. There’s a certain tenacity that every believer should have when you pray, a tenacity that is birthed from the God that you serve and what you know about Him. If you know that God is all-powerful, meaning He can do anything, shouldn’t that change how you pray? 

In the story of the woman with the issue of blood, as well as in the story of the centurion’s servant, they acted with urgency and persistence on their faith that Jesus was truly God. And if Jesus IS truly God, He can do anything! 

Praying with an expectant faith is a powerful thing! If we want to see real change in our lives and in our world, it won’t come through our works, our strength, or our goodness. That’s a plan that is doomed to fail. It must come through prayer. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Our enemy is defeated in prayer. Why? Because “it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). When we pray, Satan is terrified because he knows that “The fervent (a word that means passionate, tenacious, intense) prayer of a righteous person is very powerful” (James 5:16). 

In Matthew 11, Jesus describes the kingdom of God like a violent (strong, powerful) force that cannot be stopped. He also says that violent, or forceful, people lay hold of it. What does that mean? Listen to what Charles Spurgeon says about Mathew 11:12:

“Frequently complaints are made and surprise expressed by individuals who have never found a blessing rest upon anything they have attempted to do in the service of God. ‘I have been a Sunday-school teacher for years,’ says one, ‘and I have never seen any of my girls or boys converted.’ No, and the reality most likely is you have never been violent about it; you have never been compelled by the Divine Spirit to make up your mind that converted they should be, and no stone should be left unturned until they were. You have never been brought by the Spirit to such a passion, that you have said, ‘I cannot live unless God bless me. I cannot exist unless I see some of these children saved.’ Then, falling on your knees in agony of prayer, and putting forth afterwards your trust with the same intensity towards heaven, you would never have been disappointed, ‘for the violent take it by force.’”

I urge you to pray like God is listening. I urge you to pray with such tenacity that the demons shy away in fear. I urge you today to commit to praying every day, trusting that God will hear you and He will accomplish His will!