“because this widow
keeps bothering me, I will give her justice” – Luke 18:5
Do you ever feel like your prayers bother God? Have you ever heard someone say, “You don’t
need to keep asking God. If you have
prayed once, then from that point on just thank Him that the answer is coming;
otherwise you aren’t praying in faith.”?
I understand this rational, but Luke 11:5-13 and Luke 18:1-8 teach us
that certain things are only attained as we persistently pray and bother God!!!
Recently the Lord spoke to me from these two passages, and I
have now made a “bother God” card. This
card is where I list those things I am going to keeping asking, keep knocking,
and keeping seeking the Lord about.
These are prayer requests that I believe honor God and His kingdom, and
I am going to repeatedly ask until they are answered, or until God shows me to
quit asking for some reason. Do you have
a “bother God” list? If not, I encourage
you to start one.
Luke 11:8 uses the word “impudence” to speak of persistent
prayer. This is the only time this Greek
word is used in the New Testament. It is
made up of two words: “not” and “sense
of shame or honor, modesty, bashfulness”.
Put together this word means to not have bashfulness or shame in coming
to God. Come boldly. Come
persistently. Come naked and
unashamed. Keep knocking on the door of
heaven until you get an answer…for His glory!
Wrestle with God. Bother God with
your requests!
Then in Luke 18 we have the more familiar passage about the “persistent
widow” who kept coming to the unjust judge until she got what she needed. And Jesus tells us that God will “give justice to His elect, who cry to Him
day and night” (v. 7).
I believe there are mighty answers to pray that await those
who will “always pray and not lose heart”
(Luke 18:1). Make your “bother God”
list and keep pounding on the doors of heaven!
