Once while I was a telecommunications manager I agreed to participate in a survey in exchange for a very nice metal lock box. When it arrived you had to call a number to get the correct combination to open it and then take the survey. Well, I let time slip away and didn’t call the number till months after the survey was over.

Here I had a perfectly good lock box and no way to open it. I kept trying various combinations over and over again but never found the right one and eventually I just threw the thing in the trash.

We might be tempted to throw some of our prayer requests in the trash when lots of time goes by without an answer. We have tried combination after combination. We praised. We fasted. We thanked God in advance for the coming answer. We asked others to agree with us in prayer. We prayed the scriptures back to God. We wonder what combination we are missing.

Should we give up? Don’t do it. Remember Elijah when he prayed for rain. He kept sending his servant out to look for it as he prayed and the servant kept coming back saying; “‘There is nothing'” (1 Kings 18:43). But upon the seventh time the servant reported; “‘Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea'” (Verse 44). And then a gusher of rain came forth.

When you have prayed every prayer you know to pray try this. Persistence! That’s the right combo!