Day Seventy-nine

Perseverance

A couple of years ago God led me to train and run my first marathon. Throughout the training and race, the Lord opened my eyes to a deeper appreciation and meaning of persevering and what it looks like to actually do it. Running a marathon gave me a real, tangible definition to associate with this word. Perseverance is more than gritting your teeth and baring up under the pain. It’s so much more than that...it’s believing you are going to cross that finish line. It’s having complete faith that you’re going to complete your goal. If you can’t picture it happening, than chances are it won’t. Perseverance is a combination of hard work and belief.

In ‘My Utmost for His Highest’, Oswald Chambers writes, ‘Perseverance is more than endurance, it is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen...Spiritual perseverance is a call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God.’

I believe God not only wants to show up on June 10-11, but He wants to show up in a big, unforgettable way. He’s got some things to say. He’s got some matters to settle—eternal matters. Are you prepared to put on those prayer boots and get to work? Are you ready to ‘prepareth the way for the Lord?’ Let’s clear the land and prepare a path of prayer for the Holy Spirit.

Persist. Press on. Persevere. Believe. For there are big things at stake...precious lives hanging in the balance... Spend your lives on that which makes an eternal difference.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Oh, I ask for the God-given ability to persevere in prayer. You are able to give me endurance and persistence to keep on, keeping on. Make prayer become so a part of who I am that my life reflects one who ‘prays unceasingly.’ Lord, may I not get so focused on the circumstances of the moment that I forget about praying. Remind me over and over that I must rely on You—that my strength to do anything comes from You. Give me strength to tarry in prayer for the lost and the hurting. Give me strength to tarry when life throws me curve balls. Give me perseverance to tarry when the enemy does everything in his power to get my focus on the circumstances around me rather than the fact that there is a spiritual battle going on in the heavenly realms. Give me perseverance to pray for the Deeper Still conference. Remind me throughout the day to throw up prayers for it. Lord, You are El Sali, the God of my strength. May I experience You as El Sali, experiencing You deeper in prayer than I ever have as I intercede for Deeper Still, that I persist in prayer even when I feel like giving up. Give me Your tender, caring love for those who are lost so that I cry out to You for their souls. Don’t let me get so swept away with the pleasantries of the moment that I forget about eternal matters. You know who is going to be at this conference. Begin preparing their hearts now. Make their hearts ripe for your message. Use this conference to change women’s marriages, their relationships, their jobs, their children...let this day be the day of a domino effect of change. I love you, Jesus. Thank you in advance for answering these prayers.

In Jesus’ enduring name I pray,
Amen.