And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves ; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 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.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. – Luke 11: 5-10
What is persistence? In the MacArthur Study Bible (on the commentary on Luke 11:8) it says: The Word can even mean “impudence”. It conveys the ideas of urgency, audacity, earnestness, boldness, and relentlessness- like the persistent asking of a desperate beggar. (Bold mine).
Otherwise, persistence means never giving up, going on and on while a glimmer of hope dares to show itself. It means when you haven’t heard Gods answer yet, and you have hope that He will yet answer prayer, that you keep going. If you want to see something happen, are you only going to ask once?
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ (a.k.a. enemy) And he would not for awhile; but afterward he said within himself, ‘though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ “
Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? – Luke 18: 1- 7
So there is this judge, he is downright evil and doesn’t care for anyone. A widow comes to him begging for justice to be done in her circumstance. He ignores her, but she keeps coming back and begging him. He keeps on ignoring her but she becomes so annoying that he finally accepts and does it, just to get rid of her.
The point is, if our Father in heaven loves us, will He not do it way before the judge did? Won’t God do a better job? If you keep at your praying, God says He will come through for you.
Heart Check.
Be honest with yourself and God. When God says, “No”, to your pleading, respect and fear Him by putting it to rest. There is a time to for persistent praying and a time for laying it to rest.
Next time you’re praying remember to keep praying throughout the day for the thing you would have God do for you, and by the week’s end if you have not heard from Him, keep on with your persistence, don’t give up! Keep on with your pleading and crying out, if He does not answer you straight away, keep on at it, don’t quit. But remember that God always answers us. Sometimes He says "Yes", sometimes He says "No", and other times He says "Not yet." While it's good to pray, it's also just as important to listen. Listen to God throughout your week, and seek for what He is trying to get through to you.
God Bless.
~ Taleisha & Meggie
No comments:
Post a Comment