The Notes

This coming Wednesday night, October 7, 2026, we begin a new message series on a requested topic - the Fruit of the Spirit.  This week is the introduction and overview on the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, to be followed over the next few weeks with a more in depth look at all nine of the spiritual fruits.  Join us at 6:00 p.m. for an uplifting message and some mid-week encouragement for the soul.  

If you can't join us in person, you can always participate through our Facebook page.  We go "live" at 6:00 p.m., and you will have a front row seat.  If you can't join us live, there are 3 ways to watch the message later - on Facebook, on YouTube, or here on our website. (the "Past & Future Messages" page).  Watch anytime!  

This week, September 30, 2026, we followed up our study on faith with a look at idea of Persistent Prayer.  We answered some common questions and shared 5 lessons from the Bible on praying persistent prayers.

The Bible tells us in Eph. 6:18 – “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”  A companion verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing.”  Together, those verse tells us to pray persistently; that is to "continue to do something for a long time  without giving up, often despite difficulties, opposition, or attempts to stop it.”  And that idea leads to questions like: Do I need to prayer over & over?   Do I need to beg God?  And even this question - why pray at all, because doesn’t God already know what we need?  Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-34 - "So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Notice what Jesus said - don't worry.  He didn't say don't pray.  Prayer is important because it opens the door to Heaven.  It opens God's heart, it opens His mercy, His riches, His healing, His blessings.  So Jesus taught the disciples - and us - to pray.  That is how Luke 11 begins.  And then look at this story Jesus told in verses 5-13:

"Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: 'Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him,  ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’  And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’  But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. 

 And so I tell you, 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.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.  You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?  Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not!  So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

A few spiritual points in this story:

1 – Jesus tells us times when we should be persistent in prayer.  Times like in our midnight hour, when we need a miracle; divine intervention.  Pray persistently when the unexpected happens in life.  Pray persistently when you are empty and feel like the man in the story, “I have nothing.”  Pray also when you are rejected.  When the door gets closed . . . when you hear, “Don’t bother me.”  Pray in those times, over and over.  Pray with shameless persistence!

Point 2 – God knows how to give us good gifts.  He gives in love.  He gives because loves us.  And He wants to give!   If flawed people can give good things, how much more comes from a perfect God who loves us abundantly?  If flawed people respond to persistent requests, you can be certain that our loving heavenly Father will respond to His children, even more so, with more goodness and blessing, with healing and favor.  And know this, God's delay in responding doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you!!!  It means God is preparing your gift.  It means He is working things out; smoothing the rough places; preparing people so they are are in the right place at the right time with the right frame of mind and heart.  That is no easy task.  But you can be certain - goodness is on the way!

Lesson 3 - persistence paid off.  The request was granted.  The man was bold, and the friend responded because of the man’s persistence.  If we want something passionately, we don’t tire of going for it.  Persistent prayers show where our passions lie.  God doesn’t tire of us!

God welcomes tenacity.  He invites “shameless persistence.” – We’re not wearing Him down; instead, this process deepens our trust in God as we wait on Him.  But when we wait, we can’t take matters into our own hands; we can't be like Abraham & Sarah who didn't want to keep waiting for the son God promised them.  Isaac was on the way, but they proceeded on their own and had Ishmael.  That was not God's will and it didn't turn out very well as all.  Instead, keep knocking until the door opens.  Keep praying & giving your burdens to God.

 Lesson 4 - prayer is not begging, so persistent prayer isn’t begging.  Begging is driven by anxiety, emotion, desperation, and helplessness.  

Prayer on the other hand is driven by inner worth, trust in God’s power, and comes from a position of strength.  We know that God can do the impossible, and God keeps His promises, and God loves us.  That knowledge allows us to pray from a position of confidence, knowing that the greatest power in the universe is listening to us and is on our side.  So pray with belief, and pray without ceasing, with shameless persistence.  

There are other stories in the Bible that also teach about persistent prayer.  For example, consider when Jacob wrestled with the angel (who he thought was just a man at first) until daybreak.  See Gen. 32:26 – The man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  Don't let go of your prayer either.  

 There is the story of the  Canaanite (Gentile) woman who would not be dismissed until her daughter was healed by Jesus (Matthew 15:22-28).  In the end, Jesus said  “Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.  Jesus, and God, welcomed that kind of tenacity.  It shows faith, and she had plenty.  The disciples on the other hand did not.  Jesus' delay in healing the woman's daughter was to build faith; not hers, but the 12 disciples.  They said, “She’s bothering us” - but she wasn't bothering Jesus.  They couldn’t forget her ancestry . . . but it didn't matter to Jesus.  They thought she was “unclean,” but Jesus didn't care.  They saw her as a Gentile, but he saw her as a "Dear woman."  That woman called Him “Lord.”    She believed in Him.  Jesus' delay in healing was to build faith in the disciples.   

And Jesus told another story - the parable of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8).  Look at verse 6: "Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.  Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Lesson 5 - People can be worn down, but not God.  He never tires, never sleeps.  He welcomes our prayers, our communication with Him.  He loves us and wants to do more, if we would only ask.  Delays in justice are in God’s timing.  He doesn’t just change things… He changes people.  And that takes time.  So Jesus taught us to keep praying… keep believing… keep seeking.  Don't give up.  Don't let go.  

Here is the last question we answered in this week's message - can persistent prayers change God’s mind?  Let's look at 4 examples from the Bible. 

1 -  King Hezekiah’s Healing (2 Kings 20:1–6).   The prophet Isaiah was sent to tell King Hezekiah he was going to die from an illness. Hezekiah turned to the wall, wept, and prayed for mercy.  God heard told Isaiah to go back and say, "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you."  And God added 15 years to Hezekiah's life. 

2 -  Amos Prays for Israel (Amos 7:1–6): God showed the prophet Amos visions of coming destruction by locusts and fire. Amos prayed, "O Sovereign Lord, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”  And the Bible says, "Then the Lord relented from this plan." 

3 -  Nineveh Repents (Jonah 3).  After Jonah preached destruction, the king and people of Nineveh fasted, sat in sackcloth, and cried out to God. Seeing their actions, God relented from the disaster He had threatened.  The Bible says in Jonah 3:10 - "When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. 

4 -  Moses Intercedes for Israel (Exodus 32).  God told Moses He was angry with the Israelites for worshiping the golden calf and said His wrath would “burn hot against them and consume them” (Exodus 32:10).  “But Moses implored the LORD his God and said …. ‘Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.”  And then, the most amazing verse:  “And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.”  (Exodus 32:11-14).

What’s going on here? Does Moses’ prayer convince God to change his mind?  Did God need a reminder?  Did He forget a promise?  Was God having an off day?  And more confusing - Moses, the same author who recorded that story in Exodus, says clearly in Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.”

What should we do with this?   Here’s truth about all of those stories - in each situation, God was the one who conveyed the information.  God sent the prophet Isaiah . . . God communicated to Amos . . . God sent Jonah to preach repentance . . . and God told Moses what was happening while Moses was on the mountain with God.  God, in his sovereignly, places us in certain situations for the express purpose of praying his promises and “changing his plans,” so to speak. He wants us to employ divine power to create a different destiny than the one everyone is heading to.  God wants us to pray for each other, and pray for His will to be done on earth, just as it is done in heaven.  Prayer changes things . . . but not God.