He prayed every day for the conversion of his oldest brother. This praying brother wrote, “When he seemed to be getting farther and farther away from any hope of conversion, I prayed on.” Reuben Archer (R. A.) Torrey (1856-1928) prayed every day without fail for fifteen years for his brother’s conversion. One day, R. A. had the distinct sense that God was about to answer his prayer. Within weeks, his brother became critically ill and was cared for by R. A. in his home. They talked about spiritual realities and his brother came to faith in Christ.
R. A. Torrey was a well-known evangelist in the early 1900’s who had a prolonged journey to faith in his own life also. He was decidedly agnostic in his early years at Yale and became enchanted with liberal theology until he gradually settled on a “plain” reading of Scripture.
I came across a sermon he preached with the fascinating title “Keep Praying Until God Answers; When He Seems Not to Answer, Trust Him Still.” He cautioned listeners to give serious thought before asking anything of God. Jesus taught his followers to ask in accordance with God’s will. R. A. urged people to persist in prayer, as demonstrated by the parable of the persistent neighbor in Luke 11. R. A. said, “When we pray, if we do not obtain the thing the first time, pray again; and if we do not obtain it a second time, pray a third time; and if we do not obtain it the hundredth time, go on praying until we get it.” He advised hearers not only to pray, but to “pray through” until the answer comes. Don’t give up too soon. Pray until the answer comes, even if it deviates from our desired outcomes. I have revised the final words of his sermon about “praying through” until God answers: