"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." --- 1 Kings 18:43.
Six times Elijah's servant looked toward the sea before he could see anything: the seventh time he saw a cloud, but no bigger than his hand: yet that cloud, within a few hours, covered the heaven with darkness, and the earth with rain.
Just so may be the case with many a one, when he is praying to his God, as Caleb's daughter did unto her father, Judges 1:15.
Thou hast hitherto made me the owner of a dry, a barren heart; but give me now some springs of water, some feeling, at least, some sorrow for my sins.
Well, though at six times bending of thy knees God doth not grant it, and though at the seventh there appears but one small drop swimming in thine eyes, yet be not discomforted; that drop may prove a shower, the beginning of that thaw may at last dissolve the whole heart to water; and as there is a full joy for the thorough conversion of a sinner, there may be a suitable measure of joy for one tear, for one desire of a tear, of any one sinner that repenteth.
If six or sixty prayers are past,
Pray on, and never faint;
A blessing surely comes at last,
To cheer a drooping saint.