If we are called to imitate Jesus, and we most certainly are, then we must consider this fact about his life, death, and personal example: When Jesus was facing the final hours of his life, he had no higher priority than prayer. He called upon his closest friends to join him so that together they could cry out to the Father. But it was late at night and their eyes were heavy, and they soon fell asleep. Instead of praying with persistence, they gave up at the very first obstacle they encountered–the obstacle of their own physical weakness.
In their own way, the disciples represent all of us in our proneness to pray for a while and then to throw our hands up and quit. We begin with great earnestness and great conviction but then abandon our task at the first obstacle and the first moment it becomes difficult. And it is here that R.A. Torrey addresses our apathy, our lack of determination, our lack of persistence.
“You do not have, because you do not ask,” warns James (James 4:2). So “Pray through; pray through!” cries Torrey. Don’t allow obstacles to trip you up or cause you to give up. Rather, “Pray and pray and pray until God bends the heavens and comes down.”
