Welcome to Day 19 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting! Today, we’ll explore the theme of persistence in prayer and the importance of continuing to ask God for what we need.

Recent studies by the CDC reveal that nearly 40 percent of Americans eat fast food each day. This trend highlights our increasing need for quick solutions in our fast-paced lives. Unfortunately, if we’re not careful, we can impose similar expectations on God regarding how and when our prayers should be answered—wanting things to happen our way, right away.

God desires to engage with us in our prayer life, but His ways are often different from our expectations. Jesus provides us with clear instructions on how to approach prayer in Matthew 7:7-8: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

It seems straightforward, doesn’t it? Jesus promises that we will receive when we ask. However, the reality is that receiving answers to our prayers often takes time. In that waiting period, we must hold on to Jesus’ encouragement to “keep on asking.” A persistent, never-giving-up attitude can grow in our hearts as we press through, knowing that God is doing a deeper work within us through the process.

Even when we don’t see the answers in our timing, we can have confidence that God will answer!