Persistence in prayer

There is a parable about an old bag lady that can't get justice. Her only option is to work with a judge who is known for being more ruthless than compassionate. In the end, she wins her case simply by being persistent. In the story, we are told that if a ruthless person can deliver good results, how much more would someone who cares deeply about you.

The point of the story from the book of Luke is to get us to understand that God hears us and would like to give us the desires of our hearts. Well, if that was the case, I would argue that he seems rather inconsistent in those gifts.

Let me say what I do believe before coming back and addressing that. The Bible teaches that when we put our faith in Him, we become children of God (Ephesians 5, 1 John 3). We literally become his heir, an heir with Christ (Galations 4:7). 

So putting this in my own perspective, I'm a dad. I have more kids than most. I would like nothing more than to give them everything they ask for. But then, I discover when I do this, they seem to ask for more. Like the thing I gave them didn't satisfy them or something. Or they say "this isn't what I really wanted." Nuts! 

All the while, I discover that their wants/desires are taking away from the things I know they need, like education, fitness, or nutrition. It might also take away from a special event. For instance, I would love to take them to Disney - but we spent too much money on video games, youth camps, skiing, music lessons, sporting activities. 

In other words, it is difficult for me to know when a gift is going to be a long term win for my kids. Should I hold off for a greater good? 

On the flip side, I don't think God has that problem. He knows the result and He is going to work things out for the good of those that love him (Romans 8:28). The real question is timing. And if we think of our time on this earth like a vapor that rises on the sea and then vanishes, then the long term gift is what we should really be setting our sites on. 

Just the same, like the persistent widow, I will ask for things day after day in hopes that I might receive that blessing from God. And if I don't get what I want, I've come to discover that I often get what I need.

Luke 18:1-8, The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 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? 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?”