Pray until it happens.

And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. 1 Kings 18:42–45 ESV

It had not rained on the earth in three and a half years when Elijah knelt to pray (James 5:17). He prayed and nothing seemed to happen. He prayed again, yet nothing seemed to happen. He prayed a third time, but nothing seemed to happen. He kept praying, he kept checking. Seven times Elijah prayed and finally it began to rain. Jesus prayed for a blind man twice (Mark 8:25). Jesus told a parable to His disciples that they should pray always and not give up (Luke 18:1). It was about an unjust judge whom a widow kept coming to until she wore him out, and he gave her what she asked. Then He said “Will God not bring justice for His chosen ones that cry out day and night?” I read a testimony by an evangelist that prayed for a blind woman seven times. Each time she would fall to the ground, but when she got up, she was still blind. Finally the eighth time that she came forward for prayer, he prayed for her and moved on to the next person. Soon she started screaming “I can see!”. She was healed, but it took praying for her eight times. The Lord later showed him a vision of an octopus wrapped around her eyes and each time he prayed, one leg would come off. Pray until it happens. Pray until you see it. Pray and don’t give up. Just because you don’t see it the first time does not mean that nothing happened. Pray again. Things change when we pray and the prayers of the righteous have great power (James 5:16). The end result of prayer is when we see it manifest in the natural, but it does not start there. Pray through the tentacles.