Living 4 Him

“Ask and it will given to you.  Seek and you will find.  Knock and the door will be opened for you.”  Matthew 7:7-8

I recently read this eye-opening quote on prayer from Corrie Ten Boom:

“The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God’s realm where everything is possible.” Such powerful words to remember every time we bring our prayers to God!

Prayer is our lifeline to God’s strength.  Jesus’ life was a living example about how to access God through prayer.  What tools did Jesus reveal to us about prayer?

In Luke 11, Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer which still shapes our prayer lives (and could easily fill up several devotions!)  Following this prayer he tells the story of a person needing bread for a friend who is visiting and knocks on his neighbor’s door.  The neighbor, not wanting to get out of bed, denies the appeal for help, but the friend keeps knocking.  And according to Jesus, the sleeping neighbor will eventually get up to provide the bread because the one knocking is so persistent.

Another parable in Luke 18 shows a widow approaching a judge with a plea for justice. Her repeated requests wear the judge down and he renders a just decision for her.  Jesus explains how we should learn to be persistent in our requests for “God will surely give justice to his children who cry out to him day and night.” (Luke 18:7) Through each of these parables, Jesus desires for us to remain faithful to prayer, knowing the incredible power available to us when we connect with God. 

In reading both of these parables it is obvious that persistence gets God’s attention, and perhaps persistence is a quality God uses to develop strength in his children. To avoid using the word “persistent” over and over in this devotion I looked up alternative words and found constant, continual, steadfast, enduring, everlasting.  Each of these words, along with the word persistent, contain an element of strength, a force that pushes us to move forward.

What is this force that propels us to endure, remaining steadfast?  Our faith.  Our persistent prayers are building a stronger faith.  And likewise, the strength of our faith urges us to stand constant in our prayers.  Just as adding weights to a workout routine builds stronger muscles, adding faith to our prayers builds a robust belief in God’s promises.

In Mark 11:24 Jesus strengthens his disciples with these words, “Believe you have received the things you ask for in prayer and you will receive them.” As we contemplate our own prayers, I encourage you to endure in the continual concerns and desires that lay upon your heart. Increase your faith by believing God hears each prayer, then open your heart to receive God’s best.

From the Revelations of Julian of Norwich in 1373:

Prayer unites the soul to God . . . for God beholds us in love, and wants to make us partners in God’s good will and work.

Amen.

Reaching in (allowing God’s word to work in your soul): Read each parable (Luke 11:5-10, Luke 18:1-8) to clarify your own thoughts about persistence in prayer and grasp any other understandings about prayer.

Reaching out (taking God’s word into the world): What prayer seems to be constant on your lips?  Repeat that prayer with confidence knowing that God admires persistence in prayer.