It got me to thinking about the balance between persistent prayer and faith. I.e., if we pray, and have faith, how often do we have to pray for the same thing? And at some point does repeated prayer for the same thing evidence of lack of faith?Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Acts 12:5
The Bible seems to teach, and we all know examples, that one should pray and not give up. But does that mean we should pray and pray until we receive an answer, or can we just pray once in faith and trust that God will answer in his timing?
My wife related to me recently that she had really been praying about a family situation, in fact she said she was almost pleading day by day, and this went on for quite a while. Then in church during worship one Sunday she sensed the Lord saying to her, in a gentle but rebuking manner-- "I want you to stop this. I have heard you and I am handling it. Stop worrying about your situation and start taking care of other people." She said she needed to hear this, and felt released from this prayer burden.
I guess I am trying to figure out how persistent prayer can be consistent with faith.
TK