Persistent
There’s a story in the Bible of a persistent widow. Luke 18:1-8
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you; he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
I find the story interesting because God can answer our prayers immediately if he wants to. However, he tells us to be persistent and that he will bless those who keep asking.
If our prayers are immediately answered there isn’t much of a relationship required. It’s not just about asking God, but depending on God and the relationship that is built with him along the way.
Several years ago, I killed a broken tined ten pointer off a property that the landowner “did not allow anyone to hunt”. The gentleman was in his late 70’s and when I first met him, I brought him some maple syrup and asked him if I could tap his sugar maples along the road. He obliged and he shared some stories with me about how they used to make their own syrup as well. A couple months later I got permission to hang a trail camera, then plant a food plot, and by deer season I had worked up the nerve to ask for bowhunting permission and got it!
Good things often take tenacity to get them. Do you think it was convenient for the widow to keep going to the judge and asking? Her persistent spirit was eventually rewarded. This mentality will not only help your prayer life, but your deer hunting as well!
My constant asking not only led to success in the deer woods but a new found relationship. And so it is with our heavenly father. He wants us to keep asking because he wants us to be building a relationship with us. James 4:8 says “Draw nearer to God and He will draw nearer to you.” And that’s a guarantee. If you are seeking out God in reading, worship and prayer, He will draw closer to you.
I want you to find encouragement today that whether you’ve been praying for a loved one with cancer, our country’s political turmoil, a child that has turned from God, or big buck opportunities that God blesses the persistent.
