I was recently struck by what one pastor said. He said (I paraphrase), “I don’t know why God was silent the 999 times I’ve prayed the same prayer, but on the 1,000th time, He granted the request.”

I find comfort in that. There are times when I wonder if God is really listening and why He wouldn’t answer an obviously “godly” prayer request. But it encourages me to keep on praying because it might be the 999th time I’ve prayed and I just need to pray one more time for it to be granted. If I quit, then all those prayers I’ve prayed up to that point would be a waste. And one of the reasons why God may not grant our prayer right away might be because He wants us to learn to trust Him.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water, 

that sends out its roots by the stream,”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

This, the opposite of trusting man:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

Jeremiah 17:5

That “man” that we so often trust is the self. Oh, how arrogant and foolish to think that we can do anything! It is the Lord who is in control. Trusting Him is simply recognizing that He has been in charge from the beginning, and we are simply aligning our will to accord with His.

I want you to be happy. Trust in the Lord. Do it His way. And pray a 1,000 times if you must until your heart changes to desire God more than anything man has made.

PH