Pray Once More — E.A. Johnston

Persistent Prayer and God’s Response

I'm a big believer in prayer, friends. I believe that God hears our prayers and He still answers prayers. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray when they began to have a desire to pray, by watching Him pray.

There are two principles in prayer that move the Almighty to answer prayer, and these two principles are as powerful as thunder and lightning, of which I speak are desperate prayer and importunate prayer.

Hannah’s Desperate Prayer

Desperate prayer is clearly evidenced in the life of Hannah who prayed for her son as seen in 1 Samuel chapter 1. We read in verse 15 of this desperation in prayer. And Hannah answered and said, No, my Lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit.

I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. I really believe, friends, that God looks upon the one desperate in prayer who pours their soul out to God in prayer, like a drink offering.

Jesus’ Teaching on Importunate Prayer

And our Lord Jesus spoke of the other principle in prayer, and that is importunate prayer, as seen in Luke's Gospel in chapter 11 and verses 5 through 8. And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.

And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as needeth.

I remember one night there was a pounding on my front door. At first I tried to ignore it, but it grew louder and more fervent, so I got out of bed and walked down the hall at two in the morning to find my next-door neighbor in her pajamas.

With a scared look on her face, some intruder had gotten into her home, and she had rushed out the back door to safety and ran over to our house to call the police. But it was her incessant pounding that got me out of bed and got her the result she was looking for.

Some of my most memorable times in prayer have been between the hours of midnight and dawn, when all is quiet and my soul is in tune with my Creator, and I beseech Him in desperate and unfortunate prayer.

I believe God takes note of the child of His who is willing to come at an inconvenient hour to pastor Him in prayer. This importunity in prayer moves God and startles angels. We read of Elijah who bowed heaven by bowing himself to the ground and praying seven times for heaven to send rain.

Elijah’s Seventh Prayer for Rain

And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again, seven times. What would have happened if Elijah had stopped praying at the sixth attempt?

I believe there never would have been that downpour of rain out of a blackened sky. It's that prayer of the one more time that grips the attention of the Almighty. Let me share with you, friends, a story that always quickens my heart to pray more.

A Wife’s Persistent Prayer for Her Husband

Listen to this story, friend, about a praying wife who prevailed with God in prayer for her husband. And if you have a lost loved one whom you've been praying for, this story will be an encouragement to you to pray once more for them.

This true story is related about a man called Charlie Waterman. As told by William Schubert, the co-laborer of John Song, here now is that story. Every Sunday we had converts and along in March we had Charlie Waterman, the converted streetcar conductor, come to tell his story.

He told how he had been a drinker and a gambler and how his wife had prayed for him 17 years and how he would curse her and spit on her while she was trying to pray with her children until finally she decided she must leave him.

Even her pastor advised her to leave him for the sake of the children. So when he'd gone several days on one of his sprees, she finally decided it was too much and packed everything and was about to call a taxi to take them to her mother's when the Lord said to her, pray once more.

So she knelt down and said, Oh God, show Charlie where he is going. And while she prayed in Pasadena, he was over in a dive on the east side of Main Street in Los Angeles. Something said to him, Charlie, if you don't repent, you will go to hell.

He went into the next room and drank down a big swig of whiskey and as he did so, he looked right down into hell. He said he saw the fires of hell and the lost souls being tortured by the demons and one of the demons came right up after him.

Then Charlie cried out, Oh God, save me. Everything came clear and he was sober and walked out of that place and went home. On the way, he telephoned his wife to meet him and called sister so-and-so whom she had had been praying for him, but he refused to repent.

They prayed for him until he prayed through about 2 a .m. Then the three of them razed the neighborhood by shouting. I love that story, friends, because if you've been praying for a lost loved one and perhaps you become discouraged and not seeing that person turn to the Lord, be like that wife of Charlie Waterman and pray once more.

Never Stop Praying for Lost Loved Ones

Be like Elijah who said to his servant, go again. He said it seven times and it was the seventh time that did the trick. I believe God pays attention to desperate and unfortunate prayer. Oh, friend, don't ever quit praying for a lost loved one.

Keep praying for them. Pray one more time.