Persist In Prayer
Pray and Don’t Give Up
Jacob Wrestles
In Genesis 32:22–32, Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord and prevailed. Jacob said,
“I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Cornelius a Lapide writes of this mysterious event,
“See here the efficacy of fervent prayer, as Jacob wrestled with the angel and overcame him, and obtained the blessing which he asked.”
Abraham
Abraham petitioned God five times and asked Him to spare Sodom (Gen. 18:22–33). At each request, the LORD lowered the number of the righteous required to spare the city. Even though the city was destroyed because it lacked even ten righteous men, God responded to Abraham’s persistent plea.
Israel, Amalek, Moses, Aaron, Hur
We see a metaphor for persistent prayer in Israel’s defeat of Amalek (Ex. 17:8- 13). As long as Moses kept his hands upraised (in prayer), the people of God prevailed, but when his arms weakened and faltered, the enemy regained its strength. Then, with the help of Aaron and Hur, Moses kept his arm aloft, and Joshua overcame and defeated the Amalekites.
Elijah
Elijah (1 Kings 18:41–44) prayed fervently, with face to the ground, seven times for rain. At the seventh attempt, a tiny cloud appeared over the sea, which brought rain after a three-and-a-halfyear drought.
The Canaanite Woman
In the New Testament, the Canaanite Woman (Mt. 15:21–28) exemplifies persevering prayer. Ignored, denied twice, and insulted, she persisted in humble faith and was granted her miracle.
Blind Bartimaeus
Blind Bartimaeus (Mk. 10:46–52) repeatedly cried out for mercy, was rebuffed by onlookers, yet stubbornly refused to be silenced, and eventually received his sight.
Importunity
Another word used to describe persistence in prayer is the English word “importunity.” We assume that importunity means the same thing as persistence. Yet there is an additional sense of being annoying, obstinate, and stubborn. It is this obstinate, annoying persistence that Jesus advocates and encourages in two important parables about prayer found in the Gospel of Luke.
In the Parable of the Persistent Friend (Lk. 11:5–13), we read,
“although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise, and give him as many as he needeth” (Luke 11:8).
The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1–8) ends with
“yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.”
The kind of prayer that Jesus teaches is the insistent, bothersome, “I am going to wear God out by my continual praying” kind of prayer.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches:
“Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Mt. 7:7–8).
Based on grammatical nuances in the original Greek, Bible translator and Greek scholar Bill Mounce says that the sense of the verse is more accurately rendered by the New Living Translation, which reads,
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” (Mt. 7:7, NLT).
Prayer is a Battle
The Catechism says,
“The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and He Himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle” (CCC 2725).
Prayer is a violent, forceful struggle.
“God desires to be entreated, He desires to be constrained, He desires to be conquered by a certain importunity,” says Saint Gregory the Great.
Saint Alphonsus writes,
“At times, in order to obtain certain graces of special value, it will not suffice simply to pray, but it will be necessary to insist and, as it were, compel God by our prayers to give them to us.”
Holy Violence
“Such violence is pleasing to God,” says Tertullian.
“Prayer piously offers violence to God. Prayer is a devout coercion of God,” says Saint John of the Ladder (28:60).
“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force” (Mt. 11:12).
When asking for things you are confident are in accord with God’s will and will help you toward salvation,
be persistent, annoying, obstinate, stubborn, and unrelenting in your prayers to God.
Pray and Never Give Up
Ask for the grace of final perseverance, the spirit of prayer, love for Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother, greater faith, hope, charity, patience, the virtues, and the fruit of the Spirit.
Ask for the conversion of your friends and loved ones. Ask for the restoration of the Catholic Church, the end of heresy and schism, and the Reign of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as promised by our Lady of Fatima.
All of these things can and should be prayed for with persistent, importunate prayer.
“Pray and do not give up” (Lk. 18:1).
