Craig T. Owens

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While I was reading From Azusa To Africa To The Nations, I came across a fascinating statement from William Seymour, the pastor who led his congregation into that early 20th-century revival that shook the world. Pastor Seymour was so hungry for God’s presence in his life that he set aside five hours each day to seek God’s deeper touch. He prayed liked this for over 3 years. At this point He read about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts, and something stirred in him to pray for this same outpouring on himself and on his congregation. He then increased his prayer time to seven hours a day, and continued to pray in this fashion for another two years before the answer came and the revival broke out.

I did the math. That means he prayed 11,500 hours!

How many of us get tired after praying just one hour?

Would it be easier for you to tenaciously pursue God in prayer if you knew He was also tenaciously pursuing you? Mark Batterson points out in The Circle Maker that the verb in Psalm 23:6 is poorly translated in English as shall follow me. He reminds us that it’s really a hunting term, used for a hunter in hot pursuit of his quarry. God’s love and mercy are in hot pursuit of you!

The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him! (Isaiah 30:18)

Want to see a great story about this in the life of Jesus? Matthew tells us about a get-away that Jesus and His disciples took. While they were relaxing, a woman barged in, imploring Jesus to heal her daughter. She would not be denied. She tenaciously implored Jesus to minister to her daughter. At last Jesus cried out, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”

(Check out this video where I talk more in-depth about this persistent mother.)

It may sound like this woman was pursuing Jesus. But Jesus put Himself in a place for her to find Him. He pursued her first.

• As a Canaanite (a non-Jew), it was unsafe for her to travel to southern Israel.
• As a woman, it was unacceptable for her to go talk to a man.
• As a mother with a sick child at home, it was unwise for her to leave home.

So Jesus traveled to a region He has never been to before, and would never go back to again. He pursued this mother-in-need so that she could find Him in prayer!

God is in hot pursuit of you, too. He hears every prayer, so keep on tenaciously praying. Don’t settle, don’t give up, don’t stop! Pray as long as it takes for God to say to you, “You have great faith! Your request is granted.”

To check out the others messages in this series on prayer called Praying Circles, please click here.

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