…yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. – Luke 11:8, KJV

I have a friend named Phil. For years Phil confessed Christ to his sister, and for years his sister rejected God vehemently. His sister’s antagonism towards God spilled over into antagonism towards Phil, yet he would not give up on the soul of his lost sister.

The cancer that struck Phil’s sister had almost won. Phil visited, and it was obvious that this latest visit would mark the last time he’d see her on this side of eternity. Desperately seeking a private audience with her, he begged the Lord to send away all those in the house that stood in the way of a quiet conversation with his dying sibling. Finally, after many interruptions, Phil had his sister’s ear. One last time, he asked her if she wanted his Savior for her own. With a weak and weary voice, she simply replied, “Will it take long?” Days before her death, Phil’s sister became his sibling again, this time by being adopted into the family of Christ.

It is easy to become weary, jaded, and downright depressed when our prayers for the souls of others are seemingly unattended to. Most Christians give up on praying for souls – even the souls of their dearest loved ones – not long after they begin lifting them up before The Lord. What Phil understood, however, was that it sometimes takes importunity – the state of being troublesomely urgent or overly persistent in request or demand – to obtain from God the souls we long for. Phil also understood that sometimes it takes importunity to obtain from those lost souls we love the very thing they need the most – acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Savior.

If you have dear friends and family members that are lost, don’t give up on them. Never cease to bring them before the throne of Heaven. Never fail to seize an opportunity to live and to breathe the Gospel in their presence. And, when the weariness and jadedness sets in, simply remember the words of Jesus in Luke 11:9-10 (AMP):

9 So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.