We ought always to pray and not lose heart

Until the Day Breaks...  is a book written by Patricia St. John about the life and work of Lilias Trotter, a missionary to Muslims in North Africa in the early 1900's.  In the book she includes a story that has been an encouragement to me to persevere in prayer.
I share the excerpt with you here:



     In a small booklet called Vibrations, Miss Trotter told of a day when the wall of her house had suddenly, without warning, fallen inwards.  She had sent for a builder to repair it but he first asked to investigate the cause.  On returning from his exploratory trip outside he explained that the kneading machine in the baker's shop next door had been vibrating against her wall every night for twenty years, gradually weakening the structure.  Every stroke of the seesaw-like machine had done its work but only the last had brought about the destruction.
     She believed with all her heart in that vibration of prayer that would gradually but insistently weaken the solid front of Islam.  For forty years she did her part and died content, and we who follow have sought to carry on that quiet rhythm.  Already there are those cracks in the wall of which we may not speak, but she knew and we know that not one vibrations is lost.  Every one does its work and we cannot tell how soon or how late the great barrier will crumble.  May God grant us the patience to live in faith and hope and, if necessary, to die not disappointed, because- "The vision is yet for an appointed time.  It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.  Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay." (Habakkuk 2:3)

Persevere in prayer and don't lose heart!