thecrump

If you are a parent you have most likely experienced the continual questions and petitions from your child.  This is a right of passage for all parents and will either drive you into the wilderness screaming for relief or turn you into a mute zombie of some sort. For those who are not parents let me enlighten you to how this works in my house.

David: "I'm hungry."
Me: "You're always hungry...you can wait for dinner in 10 minutes."
David: I'm hungry."
Me: "I already told you son, you can wait until dinner...you're not dying."
David: (with added drama) "I'm so starving."
Me: "You are not starving. You just ate a banana 20 minutes ago. Go play until dinner."
David: (rolling on floor gripping stomach) "I'm sooooooo hungry."
Me: "FINE! Get an apple!"
David: (smiling victoriously) "Ok"

This conversation has looked fairly identical with each of my kids. They ask the same question a thousand times and then finally I either ground them for a year or give them some food. What's interesting is that as I have grown in my faith I have realized that I do NOT do this enough with God.

Now hear me out.

In Luke 11:5-8 Jesus paints a picture of this very conversation between friends.
Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ⁶ ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ ⁷ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ ⁸ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.

Get what just happened here.  Jesus is speaking about praying.  He then shares how a friend will get something from another friend not because of the relationship but because of his boldness and persistency. Let's take that to my example. There in the kitchen I would not have given David that apple but because he was persistent I ended up giving him one.

Jesus is saying...."keep bugging me."

That may be a bit trite but it's true. Jesus desires for us to come to Him constantly in prayer and when it comes to the things of God we should be praying with boldness and persistence.

Do you have a lost loved one? Pray daily for them.
Do you have a need for God's provision? Pray daily for the resources needed.
Are you seeking God's direction for a big decision? Pray daily for wisdom.

God knows our hearts and our needs and is not needing us to remind Him.  The point of the repetition is what it does for us.  It builds in us an understanding of our dependence on God.  My son was hungry and needed food and had no other means of getting it (the job thing for a 5 year old is limited) so he did the only thing he could...he went to his father.

The same is true with us.  We are limited but our Father is not. Let's go to him in reverent persistence seeking His help and provision.  After all, I am a sinful father and I provided for my son...He is perfect and will care for His children perfectly.