In Luke, chapter 11, Jesus uses
parables to teach us to pray. The first one was about a man who had unexpected
guests arrive in the middle of the night. They needed to be fed but the man had
no food. The market was closed so the man goes to his neighbor, beats on his
door and begs for food. The neighbor refuses him. Our hero has nowhere else to
go so he keeps beating on the door. He won’t stop, so the neighbor gives in and
gives him what he needs.
Later, on the same page, Jesus
talks about fathers giving good gifts to their children. So what is this all
about? Why are we to be persistent in our prayers? If God loves us and gives us
good gifts, why be persistent, especially when we realize that sometimes no
matter how persistent we are, God’s answer is still no.
This is deep water we are in.
What is prayer? What is its purpose? If it is to get things from God, then why
does God say no? Does God have to be worn down? If He has answered no 99 times,
will He say yes on the 100th time?
Prayer is much more than a
shopping list with God. Prayer is the purest form of worship. We come into His
presence. Did you hear that? We come into the presence of God. Prayer is more
about changing me than changing God’s mind. When we are persistent, we are
imitating God. No one is more persistent than God.
He won’t take no for an answer.
He follows us, stops us, disc
iplines us, calls to us, bruises us, blesses us
and tries us. All to bring us back to Him. All to get us to say yes to Him.
When we pound on the doors of
Heaven and no one answers, we can say “I have nowhere else to go”. With Peter,
we can say, “You have the words of life”. So we keep pounding and begging.
Dear Lord, I come before you
like a beggar atmidnight. I don’t talk to you much when things are good. For
that, I am sorry. But when things are out of control, here I come. I have
nowhere else to go. You and You alone are God. Please hear me. Please help me.
Yes or no, Your will be done. Help me make my will Your will.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Paul Shero
San Angelo, Texas
