The Lord Jesus one day shared a parable of the wicked judge and the widow that pestered him for justice. The wicked judge yielded to the persistence of the widow. Jesus was teaching on persistent prayer. It is also called importunity in prayer. Our theme scripture is the Lord's decode from the parable. Luke 11:5-13 also presents a similar parable of an individual who pestered a friend at night seeking for help. In verse 8 the Lord said, "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 he needeth". This is stretched faith in prayer. It is different from a simple prayer of faith that works and produces results at once. You have to understand that there are distinct situations where you have to persist in prayer. In this prayer you are not necessarily forcing God, because we are workers together with God. You are piling up layers of divine influence until the required level is reached.

Jericho's huge walls fell flat after the children of Israel surrounded the city for seven days and seven times on the seventh day (Joshua 6:1-5). They might have been tired but this was a divine order and requirement to have the wall fall. Every round was a layer of influence but they had to complete the circles. That mirrors the operation of persistent prayer. Acts 12:5 (AMP) says, "Prayer was made without ceasing for Peter" when he had been apprehended pending execution. They persisted in prayer until Peter was miraculously released from prison. They didn't retire from the prayer because they were tired. It only ceased when the results were obtained.

These examples lets us know the place of this kind of prayer. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit you are helped to know which case require this kind of prayer.