Message #15 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
"Asking - God’s Way"

by Kaye Johns

In Jesus’ teaching on prayer in Luke 11, He gave the model prayer, then followed it with a parable about a friend at midnight [Luke 11:5-8].

In the parable, a man had a friend who showed up hungry, at midnight. There was nothing in the house to feed his friend, so the man went next door to his neighbor, woke him up and asked for bread. The neighbor at first refused, but the man wouldn’t take "no" for an answer, so the neighbor finally got up and gave him what he wanted [Luke 11:3-8].

The focus of this parable is persistence in prayer. The point is not to show us that God is reluctant to give us what we need; we know better than that. In the verses immediately following, Jesus taught that our heavenly Father wants to give much more than any earthly father [Luke 11:13].

The point Jesus makes is that we’re not to give up in our prayers. There are times when God waits--for any number of reasons, known only to Him.

Sometimes, God simply wants to know--are we serious about the prayer? Do we really mean it? Will we give up too soon? God wants us to develop spiritual muscle, to stand in faith trusting Him when we know we are living the life that will allow Him to hear and answer our prayers. He doesn’t want us to give up.

Pray with me now -- Heavenly Father, don’t let us give up in our prayers. Help us to be willing to persist, to stand in faith believing, for we ask in Jesus’ name, amen.

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