Passionate, Persistent Prayer: Equipping the Church to Pray

Ephesians 4 sets equipping at the heart of the church, because God has gifted ministers to equip God’s people to do the work of ministry. Effective prayer stands near the center of that equipping, because prayer is “the key to God’s door of fruitfulness.” Satan understands prayer enough to stir up opposition against the leaders and families of Christ’s people, and prayerlessness becomes one of the fundamental problems in the church of Jesus Christ today.

Prayer is not a little religious add-on. Prayer is “the slender nerve that moves the muscles of omnipotence.” God is sovereign, yet God has chosen to include the effective prayers of his people in accomplishing his eternal purposes. Satan can use good things, bad things, and even second-best things to keep believers from the most important thing that moves God in their situations.

Jesus gives three metaphors in Matthew 7 that describe passion in prayer: ask, seek, and knock. Asking is the initial act of coming to God with needs instead of making excuses. The excuse of having no time really means that believers are too busy even to talk with God, though talking with God may begin as simply as getting alone, singing a song, and letting prayer flow from there.

Seeking moves beyond merely handing God a request. Seeking searches for God’s answer, because prayer is not mainly about personal preference, but about what God truly wants. God’s way is always best, even when the heart secretly wants God only to “put his stamp of approval” on a chosen outcome.

Knocking means following through on God’s leading. A person looking for a mate, a job, or an answer does not sit still and call that faith. Knocking puts “feet to your prayers,” discerning step by step what God wants, staying patient at God’s door until he reveals the answer.

Luke 18 adds persistence through the widow who would not stop seeking justice. Persistence does not wear God down. Persistence exposes wrong motives, wrong requests, and wrong timing. God may delay because the one praying is not ready, or because the people involved are not ready.

Persistence also gives more than the original request. God deepens dependence, teaches his people to accept his silence, and matures faith beyond toddler-like demands. Spiritual warfare also stands behind persistent prayer. Praying for the lost and the wayward asks God to release them from blindness, strongholds, and deception, until they see sin as God sees it, repent, and return to him.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Prayer moves God’s purposes forward God is sovereign, but God has chosen to include the prayers of his people in what he is doing. Prayer is not pretending to control heaven, and it is not passive religious talk. Prayer is the appointed nerve through which God’s power touches lives, families, churches, and spiritual battles. [38:07]
• 2. Asking begins with honest talking Asking does not require impressive words or a manufactured mood. Asking begins when a believer stops making excuses and simply gets alone with God, talks with him, sings to him, and brings real needs before him. A passion for prayer cannot grow where excuses are protected more carefully than communion with God. [44:11]
• 3. Seeking wants God’s answer most Seeking prayer refuses to treat God as a rubber stamp for a decision already made. The heart may say it wants God’s will while quietly clinging to its own desired outcome. True seeking trusts that God’s way is not merely different, but always best, even when it overturns the preferred answer. [45:31]
• 4. Knocking puts feet to prayer Knocking means prayer keeps moving in obedience, wisdom, and patient discernment. A believer does not demand that God hurry, yet also does not hide laziness under spiritual language. Faith knocks, waits, asks counsel, watches doors, and keeps taking the next faithful step. [49:26]
• 5. Persistence fights unseen spiritual battles Persistent prayer matters because loved ones may be trapped in blindness, strongholds, deception, and rebellion. Intercession asks God to create an environment where repentance becomes possible and sin is seen clearly. If the spiritual veil could be pulled back, faithful prayer would not be treated as optional.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [34:09] - Family Connection and Introduction
• [34:50] - Equipping God’s People to Pray
• [35:20] - Satan Understands the Power of Prayer
• [36:49] - Prayerlessness in the Church
• [38:38] - Passion and Persistence in Prayer
• [40:16] - David’s Hunger for God
• [42:08] - Ask: Bring Needs to God
• [45:31] - Seek: Search for God’s Answer
• [47:23] - Knock: Follow Through in Prayer
• [50:43] - The Persistent Widow
• [52:43] - Why God Delays Answers
• [56:57] - Persistence Gives More Than Requested
• [59:50] - Prayer and Spiritual Warfare
• [62:44] - Praying Down Strongholds
• [68:23] - The Good News of Jesus

Bible Reading

Ephesians 4:11-12
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” [34:59]

Matthew 7:7-8
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” [41:36]

Luke 18:1-8
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, 'In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, "Give me justice against my adversary." For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, "Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming." And the Lord said, 'Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?'” [51:25]

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” [01:02:04]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 7:7-8, what three words does Jesus use to describe the movement of prayer, and how do those words show increasing action? [41:36]
2. In Luke 18:1-8, what details stand out about the widow, the judge, and the way she kept coming to him?
3. According to Ephesians 4:11-12, who gives leaders to the church, and what are those leaders meant to do for God’s people? [34:59]
4. What are some specific things believers are told to pray against when loved ones are trapped in spiritual blindness, deception, or strongholds? [01:02:44]

Interpretation questions

1. If asking, seeking, and knocking are more than repeated words, what does each one seem to add to a person’s prayer life? [45:31]
2. Luke 18 says believers should “always pray and not lose heart.” What does losing heart in prayer usually reveal about a person’s expectations, motives, or view of God? [52:43]
3. If God is sovereign and still chooses to work through the prayers of his people, how should that shape the way the church thinks about prayerlessness? [38:07]
4. When 2 Corinthians 10 speaks about strongholds and divine power, how does that help explain why prayer for the lost or the wandering often needs to be patient and persistent? [01:00:22]

Application questions

1. What excuse most often crowds out prayer in daily life right now? What would it look like this week to stop protecting that excuse and simply start talking with God? [44:11]
2. Is there a request right now where the heart may secretly want God to approve a preferred outcome? What might it look like to honestly seek what God wants instead of only asking for what feels best? [46:43]
3. Where is there a need to put “feet” to prayer right now? Is there a conversation to have, counsel to seek, application to submit, door to try, or step of obedience to take? [49:43]
4. Has there been a prayer that has gone on long enough to become discouraging? In that delay, might God be exposing a wrong motive, changing the request, or teaching patience with his timing? [55:10]
5. Who is one lost or wayward person that needs steady intercession right now? How could the group pray in a more focused way for blindness, deception, and strongholds to be broken in that person’s life? [01:01:46]
6. When God seems silent, is the response usually trust, panic, frustration, or giving up? What would faithful persistence look like instead? [59:50]
7. If prayer is part of the work of ministry and not just a private extra, how could this group help one another grow in actual prayer rather than only talking about prayer? [35:20]