The Power of Passionate Persistence

Mark 2:4-5 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Passionate Persistence consists of faith, desperation, and sometimes tears.

Tears like those shed by Monica, the mother of early church father, Augustine. Alarmed at her son’s wanton abandonment of his faith, in desperation she went to her priest, Ambrose, and implored him to speak to Augustine. She wanted him to convince Augustine about the errors of his ways. He refused, sensing Augustine was not ready for correction. But Monica was undeterred. Flooded with tears, she pleaded with Ambrose again and again to speak to her wayward son. Exasperated, Ambrose finally said, “Go your way; as sure as you live, it is impossible that the son of these tears should perish.”

Ambrose recognized the great faith behind Monica’s passionate intercession. He knew such faith would not go unanswered. He was right. Years later, when Augustine returned to God, he attributed his salvation to his mother’s tears. Her tears, faith and desperation changed the history of Western civilization.

Never underestimate the power of passionate persistence. Peter Kreeft writes “Trying to do good in this world without prayer is like trying to win a war without any air force…but it waits for our signals. Those signals are faith, hope, and above all, passionate charity.” God hears our faith-filled, hope-inspired, gut-wrenching pleas

Remember the story of the men who dug through a roof to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus? Crowds surrounding Jesus may have stopped others, but not these desperate men. They believed. They persisted. And they witnessed a miracle. When Jesus recognized their faith, he healed the paralytic man’s soul as well as his body.

If you’re like me, there are some circumstances you’ve been praying about for a long time. Maybe a very long time. You haven’t seen any change, but you continue to cry out to the only One who can make a difference. Don’t give up, friend! Release those signals of faith, hope and passionate charity. You never know when the air force might land and dry up those tears.