Keep Praying Until …

Categories:
What Is Faith?  What Is Living By Faith?

.

.

Keep Praying Until … .

.

1 Kings 18:1, 41-45 –

And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third  year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab;  and I will send rain upon the earth. …

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink.  And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.  And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing.  And he said, Go again seven times. {And he said, “Go back” seven times — NAS}

And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.  And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare they chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.

And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.

Ephesians 6:11-18–

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication …

*

Pray with all perseverance.

Having done all, keep standing.

Keep praying until…

I wanted to remind you of the story of Elijah to encourage you today to keep praying.

If  you are standing on a Promise of God, which you have prayed and confessed over and over your life, yet you still have not seen the   manifestation of the Promise appear in the natural realm, DON’T GIVE UP.  Don’t stop praying and speaking the Promise as present tense Truth.

Even if, when you pray you FEEL like you have a total note of victory in the spirit realm, KEEP CONFESSING the Promise as Truth until it manifests fully in the natural realm.

Just like Elijah!

He had the Word of the Lord,  in 1 Kings 18:1 — even as we have the Word or Promise of the Lord in Scripture — YET he knelt and prayed it through until he saw it manifest in the natural realm.

The Word of the Lord was so strong and so sure  in him that Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. {1 Kings 18:41}.  He KNEW the Word of the Lord was True.  He knew when God spoke, His Word would come to pass.  And this is why he could confidently tell Ahab, “Get going!  The rain is coming”.

Yet Elijah THEN went to prayer.

He didn’t simply expect the Word of the Lord to fall into place.

He got on his knees and prayed it ‘through’.

Even when his servant could not SEE rain on the horizon each of the six times that he went to look for the rain, still Elijah KNEW the Word of the Lord was unstoppable.  And so, Elijah kept praying and believing God that His Word was True, and Elijah kept sending his servant out to look for the answer.

And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.  And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing.  And he said, Go again seven times. {And he said, “Go back” seven times — NAS}
1 Kings 18:425.

Again, Elijah had the Word of the Lord;  Elijah spoke as though the Word of the Lord was present tense Truth; but Elijah continued to pray the Word through, until it was manifest in the natural realm.

Which is what we are taught to do, by Paul in Ephesians 6:

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication …

What are we WATCHING for?

We are watching for our answer.

We don’t simply grab hold of a Promise of God, speak it over our lives a couple times {Mark 11:23}, or  pray and say, “I believe I receive this Promise, God”   a couple times {Mark 11:24}, and then never speak the Word over our lives again.  EVEN IF we get the best goose-bump feelings when we pray it a few times.   Those “feelings” are not our assurance that we HAVE our answer.  It is a great indicator that the Spirit of God is agreeing with us and  the Words we are speaking, but it does not mean the Promise will then appear in the natural realm if we walk away from  meditating on or “enforcing” the promise in the spirit realm.

When we stop  “watching” for our Promise  through prayer and confession, we have stopped the force or power of our FAITH to work out the Promise in our lives;  sometimes we even  stop building our  faith, or keeping our faith “up”,  regarding that particular Promise.

Keep praying with thanksgiving for your Promise from God.

Keep thanking Him that His Promises are “Yes, in Christ Jesus” for you.

Keep speaking the Word as Present Tense Truth over your life, so that you will see the Promises of God manifest in full  in every area of your life.

Don’t be put off when you have to keep praying and believing.  You are in the same boat with Elijah!  And your fervent, expectant, faith-filled prayers and confessions ARE availing  MUCH!!  Hallelujah!

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  Elias {Elijah} was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

James 5:16-18

_________________

.

.

© 2009 LeeAnn Bell, Faith Speaks Inc
No permission given to reproduce, copy, distribute, or commercialize any of FaithSpeaksInc Blog statements or teachings without prior written permission. LINKING to this Site is permitted. Thank you.

. .

..2 Comments Made ….
Very Small “COMMENTS” Button is located directly below