Pray with Persistence

“I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” Luke 11:8

Jesus told a parable about a man who knocked on his friend’s door at midnight to try and get three loaves of bread. A guest of his had arrived and he had nothing to feed him so he went to this neighbor friend to ask for help. But the friend did not respond at first because he was asleep, the house was all locked up, and the family was asleep also. But because the neighbor would not go away but persisted in asking for help, his friend would rise, get out of bed, unlock the house and get the bread.

A parable is literally a “parallel story”. It is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus told this parable to illustrate a powerful principle in prayer; that if we persist with our prayers, we will get results from God. Why? Is God reluctant to answer our prayers? Is God lazy and not wanting to get out of bed or off His throne to help in our time of need? No, of course not. God is gracious and loves to give good gifts to His children. But God does respond to faith. He has too. He has promised to. Persistence is proof of our faith and our conviction for what we are seeking.

Remember that God is not our genie in a bottle. Our persistence does not obligate God. But also remember that persistence with the right heart does move God.

Today’s prayer: “Lord I pray that my prayers in the future are proof positive that I believe You answer prayer, and that my requests are within Your will.”

Moving on Grace,
Pastor Gary