Reba Rambo McGuire, daughter of Dottie Rambo, tells of a time when she and her husband, Dony, were on a houseboat writing music. One morning, as mist rose from the water, Dony suddenly came up with a song. He went to the keyboard in the living room of the houseboat and began to sing, “Morning sun ...” Reba followed his inspiration with the words, “Light of creation ...” He then added, “grassy fields,” and Reba continued, “a velvet floor.” They continued in this vein with the words many of us recognize: “silver clouds, a shimmering curtain—He’s designed a perfect world. I’m amazed at His talents, stand in awe of one so great. Now my soul begins to sing out to the source from which it came. Bless the Lord who reigns in beauty, bless the Lord who reigns with wisdom and with power, bless the Lord who reigns my life with so much love, He can make a perfect heart.”
They recorded a demo of the song, and Ralph Carmichael, the head of Light Records, heard it. He approached them and said, “My brother is scheduled for a heart transplant. Would you mind if I take the demo of that song to my brother?” They put it on auto repeat, and it played for hours in his brother’s presence. Eventually, Ralph Carmichael’s brother received the heart he so desperately needed. But when the doctor opened him for the transplant, he asked, “Why is he here for a heart transplant? This man has a perfect heart!”
That’s right: God gave him a restorative miracle by replacing the worn-out heart with a perfect one. And while that should be the “heart” of the story—pardon the pun—there is another point I want to drive home: the song was played again and again as a declaration of faith in God’s miraculous, healing power.
In the same way, prayer is not merely something we offer until circumstances begin to improve; it is something we continue until the one we are praying for is brought all the way through.
I was reminded of a statement we often hear when someone is healing—whether physically, emotionally, or in some other way: “I’m not out of the woods yet, but I’m getting there.” That made me wonder how often we pray for a situation or an individual, only to stop at the first sign of improvement. Then the thought jolted me: we do not need to stop praying when the person we are interceding for finally reaches the path that leads out of the woods. Instead, we need to cover them with constant, continual prayer until they make it OUT OF THE WOODS!
I Kings 18:41-44 tells us ... “41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!” 42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees. 43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea. ”The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”
Notice that Elijah prayed seven times as a demonstration of persistence and faith in God’s timing. After the seventh request, he received the answer to his prayer for rain, reminding us that God answers at the right time.
Jesus also tells a parable in Luke’s Gospel about a woman who persistently approached an unjust judge. Look closely with me ...
Luke 18:1-8“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 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? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! ...”
This blog reminds us that prayer is not something we abandon at the first sign of improvement, but a faithful covering we continue until the person or situation is fully brought through. Through the story of the “perfect heart,” Elijah’s persistent prayer for rain, and Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow, we are called to keep praying with confidence, endurance, and faith until victory is complete.
Keep praying my friend and have a wonderful day!