“If you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.” Luke 11:8
One of the virtues of prayer that Jesus specifically encouraged was that of persistence. He gave illustrations to drive this important truth home by telling parables about such people as the audacious friend needing bread at midnight and persistent widow badgering the unjust judge. (Luke 11:5-9 & Luke 18:1-5)
While initially God’s silence or seeming lack of response to our prayers may appear to be a “no”, it typically is more like a “not yet.” Timing, as they say, is everything and there is with God a mystery in His ways that requires an attitude of dependently waiting upon Him for the answer. The preparation process in delivering an answer is as much, if not more about what He is doing in us as it is about what He plans on doing for us.
The one practice which I have found to be the most helpful in praying persistent prayers over the long haul is that of turning His promises into prayers. Here are some practical tips, by no means original with me, for doing that.