I wrote about Persistent Prayer last week. I hope you’ve been more persistent with your prayers since then, not because you want your prayers answered, but because you want to develop a deeper relationship with God.
Let’s talk more about Persistent Prayer. It solves the 3 reasons why people don’t get the blessing they need…
1. No Precision
As crazy as this sounds, many people don’t know what they want. They’re confused if they want the candy or they don’t want the candy. If you’re confused, believe me, you won’t get the candy.
But when you pray with persistence, you get very precise with what you want.
2. No Perception
Some know what they want, but they can’t see the blessing that’s right there in front of them. Something within them blinds them to see the blessing that is right in front of them.
Some have been looking for a spouse all over the universe, waiting for a prince charming. They look for him online in planet Jupiter and planet Neptune. Not realizing that their long-time friend that they see every day could be that partner—but they don’t see him as one because he’s no Prince Charming. He looks so ordinary. He’s kind, responsible, hard-working, and will be a great Dad to their kids, but because he’s not tall, dark, and handsome, they don’t see the blessing.
Or they’ve been looking for financial blessings far and wide, joining this and that business, getting excited with other business ventures they see, not realizing that their financial blessing lies in focusing on their talent and developing it.
A Few Years Ago, I Did Something Special For My Wife
One New Year’s Day, I gave my wife a very special gift—probably the most special gift I’ve ever given her. They were 3 ordinary looking notebooks. In fact, they were used. When I gave them to her, she asked, “Uh, recycled?”
But after I explained the backstory of the notebooks, she was bawling like a baby. She loved them.
Why were they so special? Here’s the backstory: A year before I gave her that, 365 days before that day, I decided to write a very different journal. I called it, “How Marowe Loved Me Today” Journal. Every day, I wrote how she showed me her love. One day, it was how she served me at lunchtime. Another day, it was how she gave me an unexpected kiss. Another day, it was how she packed my bags for our trip until 3 in the morning. By December 31, I filled 3 notebooks.
I wrote the journal as a gift for her. To make her happy. But as the days went by, I realized I was giving myself a gift. Because I became a happier husband. Why? Confession: After being married for 16 years, it’s very easy to focus on your partner’s weaknesses. Failures. Mistakes. On the stuff she doesn’t do for you. But the journal forced me to focus on my wife’s strengths. As I focused on how she loved me every day, I began to realize how lucky I was to have this wonderful woman in my life.
The journal changed my life. Because it changed my perception—I now saw the blessings that was right in front of me.
3. No Persistence
Some people who walk towards the candy, midway, give up and walk away. Others walk towards the candy, grab the candy jar, but when they find out that the cover is too tight, they just give up and walk away too. Others grab the candy, open the cover, but when realize their fingers would get dirt if they hold the candy, give up too!
They don’t want the candy bad enough.
Do you want more success?
Do you want to know the secret of success? The secret to success is no secret. You learned it from your mother. You learned it from your grandmother. You learned it from your Kindergarten Teacher. The problem is that the secret doesn’t sophisticated enough that we reject it. The secret of success is the power of persistence.
Three years ago, our Kerygma magazine celebrated its 25th anniversary. Yeah! Message? You don’t have to be talented to be successful. You don’t have to be gifted to be successful. Because the secret of success is to be persistent. To show up. Each month, we published a magazine to share God’s Love to the world.
Let me tell you another story. It’s about my youngest son Francis.
When he was baptized as a baby, my wife asked her friend to become his Ninang. Now this friend is crazy. As Ninang, she said she would deposit P1000 every month into Francis’ bank account. And she has kept her promise for the past 11 years.
And all we did was transfer his money from his bank account into the stock market. (Obviously, if it stayed in the bank, it would have died there because of inflation.) Let’s do the math. That Ninang gave Francis P1000 x 12 months x 9 years = P132,000.
To be fair, we also did something simple: Every year, Francis received monetary gifts every Christmas. As tyrannical parents, we confiscated the money from the helpless kid and invested it in his Stock Market investments. Haha.
When Francis was nine years old, his Stock Market portfolio of was P725,000. How in the world did that happen? Because of the power of persistence. What’s P1000? It looks so small. But if you persist every month, it becomes powerful.
Here’s my big message: Persistent prayer is opening up yourself to the blessing that is already there.
Don’t Stop at Six
Imagine you were one of Joshua’s soldiers. Joshua never told you the entire plan of marching everyday around the city of Jericho for 6 days—and on the 7th day marching around Jericho for 7 times. He just tells you what you’ll for that day.
On Day 1, you were all revved up and suited with your sword and spear and shield, ready for battle. “Grrrrr!” you growl. You’re ready to taste blood.
But your commander Joshua says that morning, “Let’s now walk around the city. Forward march! Right, left, right, left…”
You ask with excitement, “Sir, after we walk around the city, we’ll climb the walls and kill some Jerichonians, right?”
He says, “Uh, no. God says we’ll just walk.”
So that afternoon, your mother calls. Thank God for Skype. (And there was strong WIFI from Jericho.) She says, “Hi honey.
How’s the war? Have you been able to kill anyone yet?”
You answer, “Not really, Mom. We’re just, uh, walking around. Joshua is probably just observing the area.”
“Perhaps more action tomorrow?”
“Yes, I’m sure, Mom…”
The second day, your mother calls again. “Hi Sweetheart, how was the battle today?”
You answer, “We, uh, took a walk again today.”
Third day, same thing. Fourth day, fifth day, sixth day, same thing. On the seventh day, your mother calls again. “Hi Sweety Pie. I know what you did today. Let me guess. You took a walk today.”
“And what a walk, Mom,” you answer. “Commander Joshua told us to go around the city for 7 times today. My feet are killing me. And he also instructed us that after we encircle Jericho for 7 times, we’re going to blow the trumpets and shout to the top of our lungs.”
“Son, I’m so happy you didn’t join the army. You joined the Hiker’s Club and the Glee Club.”
Question: What if Joshua’s soldiers stopped at Day 6? What if the soldiers marched until Day 7 but gave up at lap 6?
They would have missed the miracle of God.
Don’t stop at 6. Be persistent. Never give up.
May your dreams come true,
Bo Sanchez
