When do you stop praying?

[James Jackson]

I am working on a feature for the Summer 2010 issue of Life Truths. We are talking about Samuel's promise to the people of Israel, that he would "not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you." (1 Samuel 12:23). Do any of you guys have stories of praying for a lost friend or family member, an illness, a circumstance, etc. for what people might consider an abnormally long time? It may have ended with a positive answer, a disappointment, or maybe it hasn't ended yet. I would love to hear your stories.

[ParentSupporter]

James,
An easy (though very difficult at the same time) example is praying for soldiers deployed. This is an easy example, because I believe that thousands of people do it every day! It is a difficult example because some of our best and finest, our most loved ones, have given their lives through the conflicts overseas.

We still pray for the soldiers deploying, and we still pray for the soldiers who could not make it home but are eternally with us. There were a few years when soldiers deployed for 15 months!! That is an eternity for a family, and some children were born while their parent was deployed (and some unfortunately never met their parent).

Praying teaches us that we must be patient, resilient, and faithful. The soldiers who return have a huge uphill battle to re-adjust to society. The soldiers who do not return are hopefully in a better place.

Consistent prayer can give us strength, and it can also give strength to those we pray for. This strength can help people achieve more than they ever thought possible!

[mïchæl salmon]

Perhaps you stop praying for something when you finally accept that God's will does not include that for which you have prayed ...for so long.

Our first child got meningitis as a newborn, and we prayed for her "complete healing". We couldn't imagine anything else that would be God's will for our beautiful daughter's tiny life. We prayed for complete healing two months while she was in the hospital. We prayed for complete healing when we finally brought her home. But those prayers eventually had to change... Over the years, we had to accept that she would have a seizure disorder, that she would be visually impaired, that she would be mentally retarded, that she would have behavior issues. It took a long time, but eventually we stopped praying for God to heal her completely. Maybe we were too busy praying for God to help her doctor find the right medications to get the seizures controlled, and for numerous other specific challenges she faced with her limited vision and mental abilities. And we saw answers to many of those prayers. Seizures have been well controlled for years. She graduated high school from Texas School for the Blind last year. At 23 years old, she now lives in a nearby group home for mentally retarded adults. And she's happy ...most of the time. =)


p.s. I absolutely don't like having to accept it. But what else could I do? (...stay mad at God?) I know He is Sovereign, God Almighty. But it never helped to hear that "God had a purpose" for allowing this perpetual disappointment in our family. Although now I can accept that God has used all this to change me (when I was willing to be changed) ...in ways I never would have changed otherwise. And He touched some other peoples' lives ...in ways that He might not have otherwise.