From Mighty Rivers 

Some think prayer doesn’t matter. God is going to do what He wants to do anyway. Others throw one up like a Hail Mary (football language), hoping that it reaches the desired destination. But there is real power in persistent prayer.

Paul Harvey told this story. A three-year old boy was in a grocery store with his mother. Before they entered the store, she said to him, “Now you’re not going to get any chocolate chip cookies today, so don’t even ask!”

She put him in the cart and began her shopping. He was doing fine until they came to the aisle where the cookies were. He saw the chocolate chip cookies and he stood up in the cart and said, “Mom, can I have some chocolate chip cookies?”  She said, “I told you not even to ask. You’re not going to get any cookies.”  So he sat down.

They continued down the aisles, but in her search for certain items they ended up back in the cookie aisle. “Mom, can I please have some chocolate chip cookies?”  She answered, “NO! Now sit down and be quiet.”

Finally, they were approaching the checkout lane. The little boy sensed that this may be his last chance. So just before they got to the register, he stood up in the cart and shouted in his loudest voice, “In Jesus’ name, may I have some chocolate chip cookies?”  And everybody around just broke up. Some applauded. And due to the generosity of the other shoppers, the little boy and his mother went home with 23 boxes of chocolate chip cookies.

Persistence!

Daniel knew the power of persistent prayer. He prayed three times a day. He knew that prayer loosens the very powers of heaven, and when we pray we have the power to battle the very forces of darkness, and when we pray angels are willing to fight to answer our prayers. The demon of Persia halted the messenger bringing God’s answer until Michael, the archangel, came to help. Read Daniel 10:1-14.

We have prayed for a recovery of Cairo, and we believe God dispatched the angels, but they have been held up by demonic opposition. Keep praying, and they will yet come.

Prayer has protected Upward Basketball for 21 years because people pray every day for every facet of the program. The power of persistent prayer is the way we have an audience with the King of kings.