"And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12).
Ten years.
Ten years of praying, weeping, seeking, and asking the Lord to do the unthinkable. During those ten years, I saw and heard very little from Him on the subject. All I had was the all-consuming feeling that, more than anything, I wanted my dad to have an encounter with Jesus, and I was going to chase Him down until He did something.
The evidence of my physical eyes would have led me to believe that God couldn't care less about my heart's cry. If He didn't answer the first time, the second time, or the 57th time, what makes me think that He'll answer me at all? However, the eyes of faith saw differently. The eyes of my faith looked back at all He had done before, and gave me all the more confidence to believe in that which was not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1).
In February 2023, 10 years of prayer came to a critical juncture, and a clash between angels and demons broke out in my home. My dad ended up alone in a hotel room, and I was at a Bible study/worship night at a friend's house. I knew that night, I had to take a stand in prayer for him. I can't even remember what I prayed. All I remember was hearing the Lord say "I have heard your dad crying out to Me, and I will answer him swiftly."
Do you know how spiritually mature I am? When He whispered that to me, inwardly, I said "I wonder if that was really Him. If it was really Him, then 'swiftly' could mean another 6 months from now. I guess time will tell if I really heard His voice or not." I was praying that night, yes, but my faith was weak. I was hopeful, but not too hopeful that anything spectacular was going to happen.
The next day, I received a message from my dad asking to meet with me for lunch. I was shocked--unsure what to expect, but in all the different directions that I could anticipate the conversation could go, I would have never been able to anticipate what he was going to tell me as we sat across the table from one another. What came out of his mouth caused my eyes to well up with tears as my jaw almost hit the floor in awe. He revealed to me that, just as the Lord told me the night before, my dad cried out to the Lord, and he heard Him respond for the first time in his life. The Lord directly addressed my dad's childhood wounds and fears, and healed him with His truth. The Lord made him into a new man that night at the same time He spoke to me about what He was getting ready to do. Since this occurred, I think often of what would have happened had I never prayed, or had become so discouraged at the lack of results that I stopped praying altogether.
The Call to Wrestle with God
In reflecting on this experience, it brings to mind so many Bible passages of real men and women throughout history who wrestled with God until He responded. They laid hold of Him, even if it cost them their comfort, their reputation, or their livelihoods. Most of God's greatest answers to prayer didn't happen without first testing that person deeply.
In the story of Jacob, he was reluctantly planning to meet his twin brother Esau out in the wilderness to make amends and reconcile their tumultuous relationship. Jacob was a deceiver and a usurper, but one thing he did that no one had dared to do was wrestle with God for a blessing. While alone in the wilderness, this supernatural stranger wrestled with him until morning. This Man asked Jacob to let Him go, and he boldly exclaimed, "I will not let You go until you bless me!" (Genesis 32:26). It was in this moment that Jacob's true name and destiny was revealed. Jacob became Israel, or "One Who Wrestles With God." Because of this encounter, Jacob walked with a limp for the rest of his life, but all he could think about was the place where he had "seen God face to face, and [his] life was preserved" (Genesis 32:30). He received the blessing he sought, and even set the stage for the generational blessing of a nation that didn't exist yet.
The Call to Persist in Prayer
When the Messiah enters into history, revealing the Father's person and manifesting the ways of His Kingdom to humanity, He expounds greatly on the value of persevering. He tells a story of a friend visiting at midnight needing bread, saying,
"Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened" (Luke 11:5-10, emphasis added).
When the Son of God tells you a secret hidden from the foundations of the world about how to see your prayers answered, you listen. Persistence and perseverance is a valuable trait in the Kingdom of God. Jesus also gives the example of the unjust judge, teaching,
"There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'... Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily" (Luke 18:1-8, emphasis added).
One of the questions the disciples asked Jesus was to teach them to pray. Most people point to Jesus's immediate response of the famous "Lord's Prayer," as the answer to the question. While there is insight in His immediate response, not many think of the ways He kept answering this question in multiple ways at several different times, and the biggest lesson He teaches on the subject is to not give up.
This is why witchcraft is more popular than following Jesus. Society has morphed into a culture of the "quick-fix," and Satan is more than happy to accommodate, but he doesn't work for free. That fame, that immediate pleasure, that divination, will come at the cost of your life. If you want something immediately, worship Satan, but if you want something of true value that will last, then follow Jesus of Nazareth, "not being sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12). Slow and steady really does win the race, and it will take the fruit of patience by the Holy Spirit to get there.
Let my story and His words be living proof that He truly is "a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), and that those who seek Him with all their heart will find surely Him (Jeremiah 29:13).
He's challenging us to keep seeking and knocking until we get an answer.
Will you accept the challenge?
The Secret Girl