Keep Praying - Lorena Gamba

What do you do when you’ve prayed, you’ve waited, and you still don’t see an answer?

Jesus teaches us to be persistent in prayer. Through the persistent widow, Elijah, and Martha, we learned that we can keep believing even when our circumstances seem to tell us otherwise.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7

In this message, we learned:

✨ Keep praying until the door opens.
✨ God is working even when you can’t see it.
✨ A delayed answer doesn’t mean God has forgotten you.
✨ Our most powerful prayers are connected to God’s promises.
✨ God can use the waiting to shape us as we pray.

Elijah prayed again and again before he saw the small cloud that announced the coming rain. He could have stopped one prayer before the breakthrough. Sometimes heaven is preparing the answer while we are still waiting. 

👉 Keep asking.
👉 Keep knocking.
👉 Keep believing.
👉 Keep praying.

Never put a period where God puts a comma. What may look finished to us may still be in God’s hands. 

Transcript

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Welcome to Mission Orlando's podcast. We hope that through this word you will get closer to Jesus. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you new messages every week. Have a blessed day.

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And today I want to speak about keep praying. Keep praying. So, as many of you guys have heard, uh, we've been going through this journey with my husband's healing. It all started like about four months ago when he started to feel a little bit of a pain in his right ear, if I'm not mistaken. And then it kept on going, his neck, his face, he had a paralysis one of the weeks. So it's been a journey. And where do you go? Something that we say here is that prayer is our first resource and not our last option, right? So we go to prayer first. And so we we we were praying every day. And there was a moment where my my mother-in-law came over to be with us for for a few days, and she's an incredible woman of prayer. You know those people who wake up at 3 a.m. in the morning to pray for others? That's her, right? So she's incredible. She's always like, Oh, the Lord woke me up at 3 a.m. They woke me up at 5 a.m. I'm like, good for you. He didn't wake me up, but good for you. I'm just kidding. Uh but she's that type of like a prayer warrior. So one day she's like, Let's pray. And it was so nice because she's a pastor, but it's also my husband's mother. So she prayed for him with so much faith, and she was just declaring, Lord, we declare healing over his life. He was so powerful, and then from then on, we've been receiving text messages from many of you guys, prayers. My parents have prayed as well. So it's like the whole church. We we come we come together every day, and we pray, and we've seen an incredible miracle. He's been getting way better. Every day he's getting better. So praise the Lord. He's about 90-95% healed, like it's just a little bit more that the Lord needs to do, but every day I see him getting better, and it's just the power of prayer. So, what are we doing? We keep praying. Tell the person next to you, keep praying, keep praying. And and one of those days that I was praying for my husband, the Lord took me to Isaiah 53, and it's an incredible verse that that it says, and actually, verse 4, it says, Surely he took our pain and bore our suffering. And I was like, wow, so incredible. He took up our pain and bore our suffering. The Lord took everything. He took your pain, he took your suffering, he took your sickness. And it's like that word became a remah. That's that's a Christian word that you should know. A remah means like a specific, like you feel it for your life. And I've been declaring that word every day. He took up our pain and he bore our suffering. And Jesus tells the story of a of a widow, and and he tells this parable. You find it in the book of Luke, Luke 18, verses 2 of the New Living Translation. It says, There was a judge in a certain city who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly saying, Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy. The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm gonna see that she gets justice because she's wearing me out with her constant requests. So Jesus was telling this parable to teach us about perseverance, to teach us about being consistent. So this this widow kept coming, kept asking, kept knocking. And the funny thing is that this judge, it says he didn't fear God and he didn't care about people. He was like evil, he was a bad judge. But because of her persistence, because you know, I I imagine, you know, can you imagine the widow just going there every day? Give me justice for my enemy from in the morning, give me justice from my enemy in the evening. And when he was at work, so every day she kept showing up until he one day he's like, I've had it no more. I'm gonna make sure that she gets justice. So keep praying, keep praying, be persistent. As the Lord tells us in Matthew 7 7, it says, Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. Many of us as Christians, we just don't simply knock. We don't simply ask. So if we don't ask, we're not gonna receive anything. So we just gotta ask. A lot of times we're like, oh, but maybe I'm asking too big, or maybe I'm asking too much. You know, as my husband was preaching last Sunday, he's he told us about praying big, right? Pray audacious prayers, pray that, pray those types of prayers that it actually requires God's hand to show up, right? So those are the types of prayers that we need to do. Um, one of my kids is very persistent, and when she gets something on her head, she's like, Mom, can I do this craft? And I'm like, Okay, but go do your devotional first. She goes, she does it. Okay, I'm done. Can I do my craft now? Okay, go do something else. Okay, I'm done. Can I do it? Like, she keeps being so persistent, so perseverant until I'm like, okay, just here's the device, go do your craft. Because what? Because she's being so persistent, and and a lot of times we just do a simple, like a quick prayer, right? Like uh, I don't know if you've been to a vending machine that doesn't work, right? You put your money, right? You put your money, you're gonna get your your soda or your chips and everything, but it just you know it wouldn't work, and you're like, please work. It doesn't work, and what do you do? Okay, I give up. I I leave. And a lot of times we go like that with God. We're like, God, please give me this, or uh help me with my healing, help me with my son, help me with my marriage, and we just do one quick prayer, and then we just leave. And there's a very nice quote that I really like. It says, pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you. Pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you. So it's like my husband, you know, we've been praying every day, asking for healing, but at the same time, he's been going to doctors, he's been going to therapy, he's like doing everything he can on his own as well, but also persevering in his prayer. And and I remember when we first got that dream to start a church in 2019. We're like, is this from God? We don't want to make such a big step, move to a different city just because we feel like, ah, you know, there's something we want to do. So, what was the first thing that we did? We actually did 21 days of prayer before taking this big step, this big step, me and my husband. We went into the word of God, we fasted, and we were like, God, we don't want to make this step on our own. We we need you, we want a word from you, we want to hear from you. A lot of times we we we want to make big decisions without asking the Lord first. So during those 21 days of prayer, we were praying, we were asking God, and the Lord gave us that word, which is Exodus 33, 11. It says, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. So that was the word that we were like, okay, God, you're telling us you're gonna go with us. You're telling us you're for us. And we just took hold of that word and we're like, we're going. We're we're going. Uh we didn't know where back then, we didn't know what city, we didn't know where God wanted us, but we just took hold of that word and we kept asking the Lord. And we were we then the Lord told us Orlando, and we're like, okay, Orlando. So we took that step of faith with no money, no members, no nothing. Just uh just a word, right? No support, nothing. All you have is a word. But that's this that's the same thing with you. Before you make a big decision, just go into the word of God, seek the Lord first. Same thing when me and my husband, we we were starting to, you know, like each other. You know, we were friends, we were always going out um with a big group of youth, right? We were both serving, serving in the band, in the same group, small group, and we, you know, you kind of have like that chemistry, right? How many of youth are here? So um, so we we kind of like started liking each other. Then my my then he talks to my sister, right? Because we were always out as a group playing volleyball or playing tennis, and um so my sister, she was our our leader at the moment. So he goes to her and her husband, and he's like, Oh, can I actually take her out on a date? So she calls me because we had been hanging out like a lot, right? So, do you want to go on a date? Like, actually go on a date? We're like, okay. So we we uh that was the first time we went on our on a date on our own. So when we were starting to date and know each other, we're like, we don't wanna make this big step. Because that that's something our our parents and in our and our church we were raised at is like that's the second most important decision of your life, who you're gonna marry after after you give your heart to the Lord. So don't make an emotional decision. So we both went into prayer and fasting for three days. We didn't speak to each other, and we're like, God, give us a word, show us if this is the way you want for us. If it is, we're we're gonna keep moving forward. If it isn't, we'll just call it quits, and we had a good time, right? So it's it's a process, you know. With with my husband, it's been a long process. You know, at first we were like, oh, it's just a little infection in the year. It's a three-day thing, you're gonna be fine with the antibiotics. And it's been months, so it's been a long process, but you're still praying, you're still showing up, you're still asking the Lord for that miracle. And you know, there's another story with Elijah in the book of 1 Kings, when the Lord said, There's gonna there's gonna be no rain for three years. So the the land was completely like a desert, nothing was growing up, like people were just starving. But then after three years, the Lord tells Elijah, Go tell the king, King Ahab, that there's gonna be rain. So Elijah, he he trusts the Lord with his word. And look at what 1 Kings 18, verse 41 says. See, it says, Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming. So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, Go and look out toward the sea. The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, I didn't see anything. Seven times Elijah told to look, told him to look, to go and look. Finally, the seventh time his servant told him, I saw a little cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea. Then Elijah shouted, Hurry to Ahab and tell him, Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don't hurry, the rain will stop you. Can you say with me? Seven times. So imagine if Elijah had told his servant, only go and look for six times. Right? He had to go look. Hey, do you see anything? One time. Do you see anything? Two times. Do you see anything? Three, four, five, six, seven times. He had to go and see if there was any sign of rain. And it says, I saw a little cloud. Can you say that? A little cloud. So is that like you see a tiny bit of hope? Like the Lord speaks to you a little bit. Like it's like with my husband. Okay, now I don't have pain in my face. Maybe just a little bit in my neck. And we're like, that's the little cloud, that's the little cloud. So we're we're praising the Lord for those little clouds. And it took him seven times the servant to go and see. And see and see the big rain. After the little cloud, then he says, There's a big rain coming. So Elijah played prayed through and then the Lord came through. Then we see the story of Lazarus and Martha as well. We see Lazarus had been dead for four days. Imagine the Lord showed up four days later, Jesus, right? So after four days, when someone's dead, how dead is the person? Really dead, right? It smells bad. But look what John 11 says, Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask. Can you say, even now? So Martha, she's like, Oh, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But even now, like she had that hope. She had that even now, I know that you can ask the Lord and He will give you what you want. So God's grammar is different from our grammar. Sometimes we put our period. My marriage is over, period. Right? My child is too far gone. Period. My dream is dead, period. My health will never improve. Period. But then God says, what if it's a comma? Comma is not over yet. Tell the person next to you, it's not over yet. So never put a period where God puts a coma. And a lot of times we're praying for something, right? And we're saying, God, give me this promo. You're praying maybe for a promotion in your in your job, and then your friend gets it, right? And you're like, God, but what about me, right? I'm I'm a better worker. I I deserve it. So you should you should live unoffended. And and I can only imagine John the Baptist. Imagine John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin, and he was in prison. And then Jesus kept healing people, he kept going and doing all these miracles. And then John the Baptist was in prison and he was actually beheaded. But he was always grateful because he had fulfilled his purpose in life. And we should always pray based on the word of God. Our stronger prayers have to be connected to God's word. Because a lot of times our prayers are just wishes, right? Oh, I wish for a better car. Oh, I wish for a bigger house. Or oh, I wish if I could be healthy. Oh, if I could have a better job. But are your prayers actually connected to the word of God? Those are the best prayers we can have. A lot of people don't know how to pray because they're not praying the word of God. Tell the person next to you, pray the word of God. Pray the word of God. That's those are our prayers. And I just want to give you guys a couple of promises. Because there are over 3,000 promises in the Bible for you. And a lot of times we don't know it. But we we should read the Bible, study the Bible, memorize these promises. As I told you guys in the beginning, the Lord gave me Isaiah 53, 4 for my husband, and I've been doing that prayer every day. It's not like a one time I prayed, oh Lord, you took up our infirmity or you took up our diseases and you bore our suffering, and that's it. Every day we do that prayer because we're praying what the word of God says. Those are the most like impactful prayers. So I'm gonna give you a couple of promises. If you want to write them down, Psalm 32, 7. You can pray these prayers at home during these 21 days of prayer. You can say, You are my hiding place, you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Isn't that a beautiful psalm? Just declare that over your life. God, you are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble. And just picture the Lord surrounding you with songs of deliverance, with his angels protecting you. Pray this over your house. This is a promise for provision. Philippians 4 19. You should memorize these verses, they're incredible. It says, And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ's riches. Amen. Why don't we say this together? And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. That's Philippians 4 19. If you need provision over your life, over your finances, declare this. If you're going through sickness, healing, you need healing, if you're going through pain, declare Isaiah 53.5. It says, But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Can you say that last part? And by his wounds we are healed. Declare it. Jesus took my sickness over his body already, and then a promise that he will do it. Ephesians 3 20, which is the verse that my husband spoke about last Sunday, it says, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, he's able to do immeasurably more. Imagine, he can do way more than we can even ask or imagine. According to his power, God's power is working in us. Can you say amen? Tell the person next to you, just keep praying. Tell the other person sitting next to you, just keep praying, persevere. Amen. You may stand and and let's pray today and say, God, just as that widow who kept asking, who kept knocking, who kept going, Lord, during these 21 days of prayer, I want to keep asking. I want to keep believing. I want to keep trusting. Even if I don't see the miracle right away, even if I don't see hope right away, Jesus, I trust you. I trust that you are a powerful God. I trust that you are Almighty God, Father. I trust that there is nothing impossible for you, Father. And if you if you need a miracle for provision, just say, God, I know that you can meet all of my needs according to the riches of your glory. You are my provider. Just lift up your hands and say, Lord, you are my provider. You are my Jehovah Jaira. My resources, they don't come from my intelligence or from all the things that I can do, Lord. They come from you. Say, Jesus, you are my healer. Declare, you are my healer, Lord. I take all of the pain, all of the sicknesses, Lord, all of the diagnosis, maybe that I've had. And I declare that by his wounds, Lord, that we've been healed, Lord. You can do it, Lord. You can do way more than we can ask or imagine, Lord, because your power is working in us.

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