Persistent in Prayer

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10 (NIV)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus offers us two powerful teachings on prayer.

If you are anything like me, you may find it really hard to pray when your circumstances seem to contradict what you know to be true—that God hears. Often, we pray and pray for something, only to become discouraged when He doesn't answer in the way we want or in the timing we expect. We know God is listening, but when days turn into months and months turn into years, it can be difficult to keep bringing the same requests before Him.

I think we often expect prayer to work more like ordering at a restaurant. We tell the waitress which item we want from the menu and expect it to arrive exactly as we ordered it within a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes we come to God as if He is a drive-through service. We choose one of His promises—deliverance, peace, provision, guidance, wisdom, grace, etc.—and "order" it in prayer, expecting it to be waiting at the window by the time our car rolls around.

But prayer doesn't work that way, because God is not a restaurant, a drive-through, or a vending machine. He is our Father.

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells a parable about a widow who continually came before a judge seeking justice against her adversary. Again and again she brought her request before him, and again and again he refused. Yet the widow refused to give up. She kept showing up. She kept asking. She kept bringing her plea before him until eventually the judge relented. Not because he was compassionate, and not because he cared about justice, but because he grew tired of her persistence.

Jesus tells this story to teach His disciples "that they should always pray and not give up." The point is not that God is like the unjust judge. In fact, the contrast is exactly the opposite.

God is not annoyed by our prayers. He does not grow weary of our dependence on Him. He does not answer simply to get us to leave Him alone. He delights in welcoming us into His presence and hearing our hearts.

Jesus uses this story to encourage believers not to lose heart when answers seem delayed. The point is not that God must be worn down by our persistence, but that if even an unrighteous judge eventually responds, how much more will a righteous and loving God hear the cries of His children?

esus reinforces this truth in Luke 11:5-13 through another story. A man receives an unexpected visitor late at night and realizes he has no bread to offer his guest. So he goes to his neighbor's house and begins knocking. The neighbor is already in bed, his family asleep, and he has no desire to get up and help. Getting up would be inconvenient. (I imagine something similar to the famous “and I in my kerchief and Ma in her cap, had just settled in for a long winter’s nap!”). Yet because the man continues knocking and refuses to go away, the neighbor eventually rises and gives him what he needs.

What would be incredibly annoying to us, is not annoying to our God. Scripture tells us that the God who watches over us does not sleep or slumber (Psalm 121:3-4). We can’t wake up God with our persistent knocking or asking. He is awake, waiting for us, longing for us to bring our requests, needs, desires, troubles, admissions, our everything to Him. He delights in our prayers.

Again, Jesus is not suggesting that God is a reluctant neighbor who must be convinced to help us. Rather, He is showing us that if even imperfect people eventually respond to persistent requests, how much more willing is our Heavenly Father to respond to His children.

Jesus follows this story with one of the most encouraging promises in Scripture: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

This is not a promise that God will grant every wish we can imagine. He is not a genie who exists to fulfill our desires. Rather, it is a promise that God hears, responds to, and cares about the prayers of His children.

Sometimes His answer is yes. Sometimes it is no. Sometimes it is wait. Sometimes, often, it doesn’t arrive when we want. But He always responds with perfect wisdom, perfect love, and exactly what we need most in His perfect timing.

In Luke 11, Jesus points specifically to the gift of the Holy Spirit, reminding us that our Father delights in giving good gifts to His children. Often, what God provides is greater than the thing we originally asked for. While we come seeking an answer, He gives us His presence. While we ask for relief, He gives us strength. While we ask for clarity, He gives us Himself.

Persistent prayer is not about convincing God to care. It is about continually bringing our hearts before the One who already does.

Every time we ask, seek, and knock, we are reminded that our hope is not in our circumstances but in the character of God. We may not always see what He is doing. We may not understand His timing. Our feelings may tell us He is distant, and our circumstances may seem to contradict His promises. Yet neither our feelings nor our circumstances determine who God is.

He is still good. He still hears. He still provides. He still works all things together for His glory and the good of those who love Him.

Because of that, we can keep praying. We can keep asking. We can keep seeking. We can keep knocking. Not because persistence earns God's favor, but because persistent prayer reminds us that we belong to a Father who loves to hear from His children.

bytaylormcgee