There’s a cycle in which many of us get stuck from time to time. You get excited about God’s promises, pray for them, don’t receive them immediately, get discouraged, and assume prayer doesn’t work. Yet, what is true above all else is that God is good and his answers always come from a place of love. However, if you don’t persevere in prayer, you never see the fruit of prayer. After an extended period without fruit, you become comfortable with being a barren tree and stop expecting more. I want you to be free from that cycle of barrenness and grow in endurance and perseverance.

I started this post at the beginning of February to share my reflections from my previously mentioned fast. Yikes! How the time has gotten away from me. That’s what school does to you I guess. Funnily enough, God’s message to me was the same in my quiet time this morning as last month: I need to build perseverance and endurance. These words will likely mark my year. It’s been the case so far. I hope my reflections will help you learn to develop them, too.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 18 that gives us into the window of the heart and ways of God. The start of the chapter is striking. Luke explicitly tells us Jesus told the parable to encourage us to keep praying and not lose heart. Jesus knew how tempting it is to quit when the wait is long! He tells of this widow who continually approaches an unrighteous judge for justice. He initially denies her, but eventually, he gives her what she wants because she keeps coming back.

If an unrighteous judge responds to perseverance, how much more will the God who loves you answer when you are persistent? Jesus says he will respond speedily! However, he also asks if he will find faith on the earth when he comes. Faith is a huge thing to God. James 1:2 tells us that trials in life are tests of our faith and these tests build perseverance in us. Thus, they actually should stir up joy in us. What a concept!

Last semester, I felt stuck in my own cycle of barrenness. At school, nothing got done despite putting in 2.5 years of work. I received yet another fellowship application rejection – my 5th since starting school. The things I have prayed for for a long time didn’t come. I lost hope. By the middle of the semester, I couldn’t control my tears or accept the encouragement of friends. I fell into a season of depression and gained so much weight it frightened me.

Thankfully, God has brought me out of that season emotionally. In this recent season, the Lord has reminded me that my name means “thank God for endurance.” How poignant. So I’ve started to cry out to God again and read his word consistently. Things are still moving slowly, but there has been progress. I’m changing my mindset from one of trying to one of training. The “trier” falls down and quits, but the “trainer” falls down and gets back up again until something changes inwardly and outwardly. Now, I’m building the spiritual muscle of endurance and trusting God until breakthrough comes.

Indeed, the wait is not to break us but to make us. It’s to teach us dependence on the one from whom our help comes. I know the wait seems long. I know the night feels weary. Jesus is preparing you for the gift. He’s revealing to you your own heart in the process so that you desire the promise keeper more than you desire the promise. I know it can be hard. Know that you are not waiting alone. You are not praying alone. There are many of us praying with you. and Jesus himself is always interceding for you. So let me encourage you:

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23

So “stick to it” as my devotional told me yesterday. The author of Hebrews was writing to a church under persecution, but they stood their ground despite the pressures of life. The same God who carried them can carry you. Keep persevering. Endure when all hope seems lost. When others begin to ridicule you and your mind is in conflict, believe in God’s word. It’s hard, but worth it to learn how to trust God in spite of it all. The promise is coming.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

Hebrews 10:35-36

Stay encouraged Holy Academe. I’m right there with you.

P.S. Here’s some extra encouragement for all the Disney Millenials out there.