Never Give Up with God
On Sunday we heard the classic account of Abraham reasoning with God in the hopes that He will not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 18:16-33). The story goes that God told Abraham that since the cities had become so corrupt in sinfulness that He had decided it was better to destroy them. It honestly reminds me of Batman Begins when the caped-crusader is fighting off Ra’s al Guhl and the Legion of Shadows from destroying Gotham. Anyway, Abraham asks God if it right to destroy all the people even if some of them are good. God says that if He finds 50 just people in the city He will not destroy it for the sake of them. So Abraham continues to talk Him down until he gets to ten.
In the end the city is destroyed because God does not even find the ten, but I think it’s important to note that Abraham never gave up. He wasn’t seeking anything for himself, but out of love for his fellow man he called upon the mercy of God. And God is always willing to dish out mercy.
This is the perfect model of persistence in prayer, especially intercessory prayer—when we are praying for others. For example, someone asks you to pray for them. If you don’t forget then you maybe do it once or twice, but then you give up and assume you’ve done your part. Why should you stop praying if the intention is still there? This person needs your prayers enough to ask for them, so you should be more than willing to get on your knees and pray for the needs, whatever they may be.
Saintly Examples of Persistence
St. Therese of Lisieux
I love the story of St. Therese of Lisieux. If you haven’t read her autobiography The Story of a Soul you should. She wanted to be a nun from a very early age and had trouble being let in to the convent. When she was fifteen she was turned down by the superior of the Carmelite convent she hoped to enter. She didn’t give up on her vocation to the consecrated religious life, because she knew it was what God was calling her too. Instead, she went to her bishop and asked for his permission with no better luck. Finally, while her family was on pilgrimage in Rome they were granted an audience with Pope Leo XIII.
They had told her to keep quiet and look pretty, but knowing that this was her last hope she spoke up and shared her trouble with the Holy Father. His response was to listen to her superiors, in obedience, adding that if it was God’s will she would enter. And enter she eventually did. You can find the excerpt of this story from her book here.
St. Therese shows us that persistence pays off, especially when it is in accordance with the will of God. She was not pursuing what she wanted, but what God wanted. And although it was a bit of a struggle for her, with persistence she was able to achieve it.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
Even Mother Teresa shines an example of persistence. First, she joined a religious order of nuns—the Sisters of Loreto—but later felt called to something greater, to found a new order, the Missionaries of Charity. This was hardly an easy or even acceptable thing to do. But she asked for permission and was initially turned down. She prayed about it and eventually was granted permission by her superiors.
Of course, you know that what happened next has left an indelible mark on the world. Everyone knows who Mother Teresa is and her work and the work of her sisters brings love to those who are most in need of it. Would she have given up and you would never know her name. Would she have went back to her place with the Sisters of Loreto and there would be nobody to care for the sick and dying in Calcutta or across the world—at least not like the Missionaries of Charity do.
Towards the end of her life Mother Teresa experience extreme spiritual dryness, meaning she didn’t feel God or His love. We know this from writings in her diary. But what’s amazing is that she never stopped being loving or joyful to others even though at times she herself didn’t feel loved. She was persistent in the call that God gave her to serve the poor and that wasn’t dependent upon how she felt, but rather on what God’s will for her life was. That is why she is on the path to sainthood.
Persistence is Powerful
When we feel called to something we can be sure that we will face challenges and obstacles along the way. There will be difficulty and opposition. It will by no means be easy. But all of this not only helps strengthen our faith and commitment to God’s will, but it teaches us that we must learn persistence. If we give up on God’s will after one day, then we were never very committed to it.
I’ve shared three examples of great Christian figures from across the centuries who inspire me to be persistent in prayer and in the practice of my faith with the hope that they will also inspire you. Persistence can sometimes seem like nagging God, but that’s not really what it is. It is actually showing Him that we really care and that what He wants for us in important to us, even when circumstances don’t allow it or when obstacles arise. In faith, we are persistent because we know that no challenge is too big for God.