Persevere in Prayer: 10 Tips for a Consistent Prayer Life
“I know I need to persevere in prayer, but it’s hard when I don’t see any signs that God hears me,” a friend shared as we hiked through a grove of towering oaks.
“I get that. It’s hard to keep praying when God seems silent,” I related. “I’ve had times of questioning whether God cared. It’s hard when he doesn’t seem to care about the things that are most important to us.”
We spent the rest of our hike sorting through questions about God and faith. When we returned to our vehicles, we hadn’t solved any major problems or answered our most pressing questions, but we both felt assured that we weren’t the only ones who struggled with prayer.
Persevere in Prayer
Most of us have been taught that we are to persevere in prayer. If we just stick with it, mountains can move in response to our prayers.
But when happens when the mountain doesn’t move?
What happens when our faithfulness in prayer leads us to question God love and even his existence?
To answer these questions, let’s start by seeing what God’s Word says about persistence in prayer. We’ll discuss the reasons why persistence is important and explore some practical ways to persevere in prayer.
Let’s begin by looking at the Bible’s teaching.
Key Verses About How and Why We Should Persevere in Prayer
1. Luke 18:7
And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ESV
In this parable, Jesus told the story of a persistent widow who repeatedly asked an unjust judge for justice. The judge eventually granted the widow’s request because she was persistent.
Jesus was illustrating an important principle: If an ungodly judge will eventually grant a request that is stated repeatedly, how much more will our loving Father grant our requests.
2. Matthew 7:7
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
As God’s children, we are called to continue asking, seeking, and knocking until he answers our prayers.
At the same time, how we ask, seek, and knock is important. Praying with gratitude helps us shift from impatience to trust.
3. Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
When God is our greatest delight, our prayers become aligned with his desires for us. As this happens, we begin seeing answers to our prayers because they align with God’s will.
4. Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Anxiety is not from God. Our God is a God of peace. When we feel anxious, we are told to pray to God with thanksgiving. Our next verse tells us what happens as a result.
5. Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
When we persist in prayer, God gives us his peace.
6. James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
We persevere in prayer by praying for others and with others.
We heal and grow through relationships, not in isolation. For this reason, praying with other people can help us persist.
Bible Verses to Help Us Persevere in Prayer
The following verses don’t need an explanation. These verses remind us to persist in prayer.
7. Colossians 4:2
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
8. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing,
9. Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
10. Ephesians 6:18
Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
Why We Need to Persevere in Prayer
Why is it important to persevere in prayer?
God’s intention for prayer is that each of his children will draw near to him and cultivate a closer, deeper relationship with him.
Prayer is more than asking for God to grant our requests; it is the avenue by which we develop a deeper relationship with God.
As we persevere in our prayer, our relationship with him grows stronger and deeper. We learn to trust him. God also uses times of waiting to develop our character.
Continuous prayer is a lifestyle of ongoing conversation with God. We stay engaged with God, and God gives us strength.
I now invite you to travel back in time to a life-changing experience that taught me the importance of faithful prayer.
A Personal Application of Persistence in Prayer
I was 22 years old, full of dreamy ideals, and fresh out of college when I became the Life Skills Support Special Education teacher in a small-town public high school. I had visions for planning engaging lesson plans and teaching my students to thrive in the world.
A month into my new career, I vividly remember sitting in the classroom at the end of a grueling day, wiping the tears from my eyes, and wondering how in the world I was going to force myself to return to the classroom the next day.
Nothing about my job was going according to my plans.
I spent most of my time trying to keep my students from hurting themselves, locking themselves in bathroom stalls, fleeing the building, or stabbing their peers with pencils.
As I sat at my desk and looked at the classroom full of empty desks, I was desperate. In my desperation, I closed the lesson plan book, walked to each desk, and began praying over each desk, imagining the faces of my students as I prayed.
I prayed that God would enable me to break through to them, and most of all, I prayed he would give me eyes to see each student through the lens of his love.
When We Persevere in Prayer
Nothing noteworthy happened right away.
The next day, one of my students attacked another teacher with scissors. A few days later, another student was expelled for violence. Meanwhile, as the days rolled into weeks—and the weeks into months—I continued regularly praying over each student.
Over time, the most remarkable shift took place.
I realized I loved my students.
I wasn’t a mother yet, and I had no framework for the kind of love I felt for my students.
Looking back two decades later, I would describe the love God poured into my heart as a form of maternal love. I loved the sweet boy who often needed me to wipe his nose. My heart overflowed with love for the girl who brought me gifts from her home, including every spice from her mother’s spice rack. I loved the boy who often locked himself in the restroom and refused to come out.
The more I prayed for my students, the more God’s love flooded my heart.
My job didn’t get any easier. But the change of heart enabled me to lay down my desires and hopes for what we were going to learn each day and, instead, embrace the lessons God wanted my students to learn.
I learned to accept that my days would rarely go the way I planned. I learned to laugh more often and love more deeply. God began teaching me to live in his grace in that tiny classroom.
Prayer Changes Our Hearts
God wants to enable us to see the difficult people in our lives the way he sees them. He wants to align our hearts with his heart and fill us with his love. When we regularly pray for the people who challenge our patience, God fills our hearts with his love for them.
Throughout the past two decades of consistently praying for the people in my life, I’ve seen God answer some of my prayers with miracles. Most often, the miraculous answer to prayer is the way God fills me with his love for these people.
He uses my prayers to deepen my compassion. He uses my prayers to give me his eyes and his heart for people who challenge me, hurt me, and frequently interrupt my plans.
Begin praying for the people within your sphere of influence, and God will do the same for you. He will fill you with his love.
Persevere in Prayer: Practical Tips
Let’s now look at some practical ways to persevere in prayer.
1. Add prayer to your daily morning rhythms.
A good way to be more consistent in prayer is to consider what daily morning routine you could pair with prayer. What do you do every day that you could do while praying?
Here are some morning activities that go well with prayer: Eating breakfast, drinking coffee, showering, brushing our teeth, driving to work.
We don’t have to pray through all these activities, but it can be helpful to choose one or two, write a note and post it where we will see it, and pray while we undertake the activity.
2. Pause for prayer in the middle of the day.
In the same way we can pair prayer with a morning activity, find a way to remind yourself to pause and look to the Lord in the middle of the day.
For years, I set a timer on my watch or phone that went off at noon. It was my lunch break at work, and I used the time to pause and talk to God for even a moment.
3. Wear something that will remind you to pray.
When I realize I’m not following the call to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), I wear something different on my wrist or hand to remind me to pray.
I might switch my watch to my right wrist, wear a different ring, wear a bracelet, or wear a rubber band on my wrist. Every time I see it, I pause to talk to God.
4. Add prayer to your evening routine.
There is no better way to end the day than talking to God, falling asleep in his arms.
Make it a habit to end every day talking with God. If you’re too tired to talk, lie in bed and imagine him holding you. Silence can be the most powerful kind of prayer.
5. Be sure to actually talk to God.
This might seem obvious enough, but many of us say we’re going to pray but never get around to actually talking to God.
James 4:2-3 addresses our primary stumbling block in prayer: “You do not have because you do not ask.”
We must actually directly seek God in prayer if we want to improve our prayer lives.
6. Persevere in prayer by praying with gratitude.
We can also improve our prayer lives by praying with gratitude.
We can thank God for hearing our prayers and for his promise to use all things for the good of those who love him.
The Bible repeatedly calls us to pray with gratitude.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us to be joyful always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.
Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us to lift our requests to God with thanksgiving, and the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
7. Pursue intimacy with God above answers.
In Mark 9, the disciples attempted to cast out a demon but were unsuccessful. Jesus responded that the demon could only be cast out through prayer. Some translations add fasting to prayer (see Mark 9:29).
Jesus wasn’t offering a formula for effective prayer; he was saying that intimacy is the key to power.
The more time we spend with God in prayer, in his Word, and pursuing other spiritual disciplines, the more our hearts will come into alignment with his heart. We will see answers to our prayers because we will pray according to his will, in his power.
8. Persevere in prayer by asking specifically and directly.
Praying specifically sets us up for specific and direct answers.
What do you need God to do for you right now? Talk to him about this directly.
9. Don’t leave God in the prayer closet.
God wants us to meet with him in quiet places. But he also wants us to keep our minds, hearts, and eyes fixed on him when we return to our everyday moments.
God wants you to talk to him as you play catch with your kids in the backyard or take the dog for a walk.
He wants you to experience him as you paint the picnic table and mulch the flowerbeds.
He wants you to come to know him more as your newborn screams from the backseat the whole way to the vacation house.
A praying life is more than a life of disciplined time set aside for seeking God’s face. You will cultivate a more consistent prayer life when you simply keep your eyes open and watch for God as you go about your days.
10. Persevere in prayer by turning to God again and again.
I tend to pray big prayers at the start of my days and then forget all about God when I feel overwhelmed. I’m learning to be gentle with my failures. Every moment of distraction is an invitation to return to God all over again.
I invite you to keep coming back to God.
Try to live prayerfully. When you forget, use it as an opportunity to return all over again. Mess up a thousand times, and you create a thousand opportunities to turn to God all over again.
When we persevere in prayer, we are doing business in the spiritual realm. Spiritual forces in the heavenly realm move in response to our prayers. We might not be able to understand this movement, but we can trust that God is working.
Spiritual forces in the heavenly realm move in response to our prayers. We might not be able to understand this movement, but we can trust that God is working. #prayer #faith #hope #spiritualwarfare Share on XCalling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Attention All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
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A Free Devotional to Help You Connect With God
God is a good Father, and he wants us to experience his healing, deliverance, and replenishment. Most of us have learned that we cannot heal, deliver, or refresh ourselves; we need God to do this work within us. I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here! 
