The Essentials of a Victorious Importunate Prayer Life (2)

How crucial to you is what you are requesting?

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

We continue our discussion on victorious importunity in prayer, which we began in Part 1. Our reference is from Luke 11:5-8 and Luke 18:2-8, the two parables Jesus told His disciples to teach importunity in prayer. The former is of a man who went to his friend for bread and knocked until he came to open the door to give him what he wanted, and the latter is of a widow who kept going to an unjust Judge until he gave her justice.

In Part 1, we noted that both individuals knew that the person they had gone to, respectively, could deliver on their request. And so, we inferred that if we must be victorious in importunate prayer, we must be fully persuaded that God can give us an answer of peace. Yes, God can do anything, but you must be irrevocably convinced about God's ability to deliver on your request. Therefore, you cannot persevere in prayer and be victorious until you are convinced that God can give you what you ask, beyond doubt and equivocation.

Is what you are requesting crucial to you?

In this second part, we observe another attribute that both individuals in Jesus' parables had, which resulted in their respective importunities: both the man who needed bread and the widow refused to take "No" for an answer.

In the case of the man who wanted bread, though his friend was already in bed alongside his children and, therefore, unwilling to rise from bed, the man nonetheless persisted in knocking until his friend got up and opened the door to give him what he wanted. This man was determined not to return to his guest without bread!

Similarly, the widow did not relent in going to the Judge daily to ask for justice. Since the Judge was the only person who could give her justice, she continued going to him until justice was served. It did not matter for how long she had to go or how far away the Judge's court was from her home. As long as she had not gotten justice, she continued to go!

Thus, if you will be victorious in importunate prayer, a vital question you must answer is, "How crucial to you is what you want?" One common thing that people who are victorious and who breakthrough in prayer have is that what they are praying for is extremely vital, and they are unwilling to let up until they get it!

Jacob, when faced with the grim possibility of losing his life at the hands of his twin brother, Esau, held on to God and said,

"I will not let You go unless You bless me!" (Genesis 32:26, NKJV)

And though God had pulled out his hip joint from its socket during their struggle, Jacob persisted until God blessed him! Jacob needed to be assured of God's blessing (even though he had it when his father blessed him), and nothing could dissuade him otherwise!

Are you ready for the long haul?

When you are about to pray for something, many things will seek to discourage and prevent you from praying. But if the matter is crucial to you, you will not be deterred. If you are not ready for the long haul—that is, no matter what happens—you cannot persevere in prayer.

The man who wanted bread for his wayfaring guest was unwilling to return to his guest empty-handed. He would not tell his wayfaring guest that he would have to go to bed on an empty stomach. So, he stayed and kept knocking until his friend came to open the door and give him bread.

Elijah persevered in prayer so that it would not rain for three and a half years. The Bible states that Elijah was a man just like anyone; there was nothing special about him, yet he was importunate in prayer and victorious. If anything, Elijah may even have been worse off than many of us. For instance, Elijah had no known family—no wife, children, or siblings—to fall back on. He was known to have only one set of clothing (2 Kings 1:2-8) and lived in the wilderness—a not-so-pleasant place.

Elijah was just an ordinary man, but when he saw the unrighteousness in the land, he prayed to God, and God brought a famine that lasted three and a half years. After three and a half years, Elijah again prayed for rain because God had told him that He was sending rain upon the land. And even though Elijah did not doubt God, he nonetheless prayed for rain till his servant told him a cloud—the size of a man's hand—had formed in the sky. Elijah put his head between his knees and prayed, in that posture, seven times till his servant brought word about the tiny cloud forming in the sky (1 Kings 18:42-44).

It was crucial to Elijah that the people's suffering end. So, he prayed until it rained again!

What happens if you give up along the way?

A story in 2 Kings 13 drives home the need for importunity and the consequence of not persevering in prayer.

Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!" And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and some arrows." So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. And he said, "Open the east window"; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. And he said, "The arrow of the LORD's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them." Then he said, "Take the arrows"; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground"; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times." (2 Kings 13:14-19, NKJV)

Elisha was upset with the king because he did not continue striking the arrows on the ground but stopped after hitting the ground three times. Elisha's verdict was that the king would only be victorious three times. He also told the king that he would have been victorious forever over Syria if he had persisted in striking the ground at least two or three more times.

When we are not importunate in prayer, our victories are limited. But when we persist and persevere in prayer, our victories are limitless!

Understanding the significance of your importunity is the difference between obtaining or not obtaining your request

The king, perhaps, did not understand the significance of striking the ground with the arrows. I am sure that if he had understood the prophetic implication of what Elisha had asked him to do, he would have struck the ground more than six times! So, understanding that your importunity is tied to obtaining that which is crucial to you is particularly important.

If the man who went to his friend for bread had knocked only three times, his friend would not have gotten up from his bed. The widow would never have received justice if she had gone to the Judge only three times.

The man who wanted bread from his friend kept knocking until his friend got up to open the door and give him what he wanted. The widow kept on going to the Judge until he gave her justice. Hence, the Lord Jesus Christ said,

"So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9; AMP)

To persevere in prayer, you must keep praying until you get the answer you require. You cannot say, "After praying seven times, I am going to stop." What you should say is, "I am going to pray until I get an answer."

And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then she came and worshipped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matthew 15:22-28, NKJV)

In the above Scripture passage, the Syro-Phoenician woman came to Jesus because she believed that Jesus could heal her daughter. But as she cried after him, he did not answer her. He acted as though He did not hear her. Even when His disciples urged Him to send the woman away, perhaps by answering her, so that she would stop crying after them, Jesus said that He had no business with her since she was not a Jew. The woman then changed tactics and worshipped Him. And for all that, the Lord told her that she could not get what was reserved for the children. Even the inference that she was a dog did not faze her! Instead, she accepted her lot and requested that she have the 'crumbs' that would have fallen from the children's table! At that point, the Lord commended her faith and granted her request!

Sadly, many Christians do not consider how crucial what they want is, so they give up at the slightest hint of difficulty or discouragement.

What are you prepared to do to get what you want legitimately?

The Syro-Phoenician woman got what she wanted because it was crucial to her. She did not mind what she had to go through to obtain what she wanted legitimately. She persevered through the silent treatment, grovelling, insults, etc., because her daughter's health was crucial to her, and she had found the only Person who could heal her.

So, I ask, "How crucial to you is what you want from God?" "How important to you is what you are requesting of God?" If it is important to you, you should continue to ask until you get an answer—continue to seek until you find and continue to knock until the door is open to you. The Lord Jesus said,

"For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened." (Luke 11:10, AMP)

If something is crucial to you, you will continue to ASK—Ask, Seek, Knock—until you receive, find, and the door is opened to you, respectively. If what you desire is not crucial to you, you will soon give up and succumb to fatigue or discouragement. Importunity is only possible when what you want is vital to you!