Unlike Sisyphus the stone will not roll back on us
The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.
There is something very compelling about this myth. It is a vivid picture of futility. Again and again Sisyphus tried to get the stone all the way up the hill and have it stay, only to see it roll back down again. Sometimes waiting on God feels like this - futile and hopeless labor. Will He ever come through? How many prayers will we have to pray? How long will He make us wait? When will the things we have ask Him for come to be?
There is a quote that strikes me as helpful: “Satan strikes either at the root of faith or at the root of diligence” (Puritan John Livingstone). I have found this to be a true insight concerning the nature of prayer and persistance in prayer. Satan prosecutes a relentless war against faith and faithfulness. He works to draw the intercessor away, to cause him or her to doubt, to lure one into the place where we utter - “What’s the point, this won’t work to change a thing.”
Here is where we must challenge our carnality. Faith is born of the Spirit in the heart of a person. Faith is neither intellectual nor is it anti-intellectual. It is beyond reason. It is non-rational. This makes our grasp of things spiritual very dependent upon our confidence in the Word of God and our persistence in holding to what it says about who God is and what He is willing to do for and through His people. Our senses grow weary. We are creatures who are inclined to lose hope when gratification is delayed. This is our natural, fleshly tendency. Knowing this to be the truth (an no doubt some are better than others when it comes to waiting), we must keep stoking the fire of faith with the truth of God’s Word, and with accounts of his working through history to answer the prayers of his people for revival.
This is precisely how the Scriptures see it: Romans 10:17 - So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Faith is a fire which is stoked by the Word. Go to the Scriptures and read the stories of God’s faithfulness to Abraham, to Joseph, to Moses, to Joshua, to Daniel, to the Apostles, and to Mary (to name only a few). Look at history and see how God has always acted on behalf of his people - St. Patrick, St. Francis, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, William Wilberforce, Charles Finney, Evan Roberts, William Seymore, and on and on an on. Here is a link where you can down load and read a wonderful brief book on 10 great revivals - 10 Great Revivals. Take the time to do it. Print out a chapter a day and read it. It will nourish your heart and turn your eyes toward Jesus.
We are not engaged in futility. Take the time to read Isaiah 58. It is a powerful word on revival. It challenges us with the necessity of response to God. We are not passive in our prayer. We engage the Lord, and we must be ready to respond to what He puts before us. But when it is all said and done - it is God’s faithfulness to honor his own words that gives us the hope and persistence to press in and on. Isaiah 58:8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ These verses describe God responding to His people and their crys for help - “then shall your light break forth” and how desperately we desire that light to break forth.
Those who hunger for revival - we are not letting go, until the Lord answers. Those who are desperate for a new day to dawn in the church - we will not relent until His light breaks forth. But where, oh where are those of whom Isaiah speaks: On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, (7) and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. May He find us watching and waiting!