Persistent Prayer vs. Faith

[TK]

I was listening to Steve's Acts lecture today and he mentioned the following verse:

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Acts 12:5

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?

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

[steve7150]

I guess I am trying to figure out how persistent prayer can be consistent with faith.








I think of what Jesus said about each day , that each day has enough of it's own troubles so don't worry about tomorrow. So i look at each day as what Jesus wants us to focus on and i tend to pray once a day particularly in the morning. Maybe not a great analogy but i have not found anything better.

[TK]

Hey Steve-

I agree that we should be praying every day. I meant should we be praying about the same specific thing every day..

For example, let's say we are praying for a loved one who is out of work to find employment. Should we pray that prayer every day until they are employed, or is once sufficient?

TK

[steve7150]

For example, let's say we are praying for a loved one who is out of work to find employment. Should we pray that prayer every day until they are employed, or is once sufficient?

TK,
Maybe i'm reading to much into Jesus reference to each individual day , but since he encapsulates life into individual days, i think praying every day is good and i think once a day for whatever you are moved to pray for is sufficient IMO. However i don't think praying more then once a day means you have a lack of faith but maybe more of a sense of urgency.