Do you ever feel like your prayers are not being heard or you don’t think that they will be answered? I have. Don’t give up; keep praying. Be persistent. God is ok with that. Sometimes I think He wants us to show how much we want it and wants us to “pray without ceasing.” To not give up. Sometimes, we are being impatient, and God is answering in His own time. He’s ok with that too. He just wants us to pray earnestly, and pray with faith. Jesus gives us a couple parables to remind us to be persistent in our prayer and remind us that God is faithful and will give us what we need.
Luke 11:5-13
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 to 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. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Jesus says to keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. He will answer. As it says in Matthew, God wants to give good gifts to His children. Of course, this is not just about asking for things or changing circumstances. It’s about asking for HIM. He desperately wants a relationship with us. All we have to do is ask. When we ask, He will give us the Holy Spirit. All those who follow Jesus will have the Holy Spirit indwelling in them. And He will give us our needs.
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus says do not worry. God will provide. But He also says to pray. He may not answer in the way you expect or in the timing you want, but He always does what is best, just as any good parent does what is best for their children, and so much more. So, don’t give up. Be persistent. Keep turning to Him in prayer.
Luke 18:1-8
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.’ And he would not for a while; 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? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
So, don’t give up. Pray without ceasing. Be persistent. Your Father in heaven wants you to be in communion with Him and He wants to bless you and to give you good things. He is always there for you, even when you do not feel Him or do not realize it. Sometimes when we pray for something He may say no because there is something better. Sometimes He says yes in time. Sometimes it is immediate. Have faith. God is good.
My Daily Scriptures 