Preserving A Prayer

But I wonder, friend, if you and I ever get things out of perspective. Does it always feel like that when we are having a difficult time? Or do our feelings direct us in a different direction? Do you ever lose perspective and feel like maybe God isn’t listening, and God doesn’t care? It’s easy to do that. So it’s good for us to rehearse from time to time what a privilege it is to know what God is really like. And this parable gives us some keen insights.

Hopefully you are still there in Luke 11 with your Bible. We will continue in verse 9 where Jesus added some important teaching in follow up to this parable. Verse 9. 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. As we have explained so many times in the past, a better translation of that verse really is this. Ask and keep on asking. Knock and keep on knocking. Seek and keep on seeking. In other words, be persistent. Don’t give up even when it feels like and seems like God is not answering. Keep at it. Don’t give up.

We like to hear other people say, hey, if you need help give me a call. And we know they mean it. And we say, great, if I need help, I’ll give you a call. But here God is saying, if you need help just ask. No problem. If you need help, just ask. In fact, keep on asking. How much more encouragement could we have from God than that, when he is saying, the door is always open. My line is never busy. You call any time. Anything you need you call and ask. In fact, you keep on asking. Just keep asking. Be persistent.

We understand persistence, persistent asking, on a human level. Many years ago a friend of ours son worked a couple of years in high school at a restaurant after school. And that particular restaurant I suppose is typical of many restaurants. At the end of the day they take up the rubber mats that are on the kitchen floor and they scrub the floor. Because a lot of grease is spilled and these rubber mats protect the feet so they don’t slip on the slippery floor. Well he was out in the main restaurant area bringing in dishes, doing whatever it was, and they had removed the rubber mats from the kitchen floor and he didn’t realize it. So he came in expecting them to be there and slipped right on the greasy floor, fell on his face, broke his jaw, and broke a tooth off. A bad day. Well we did all the medical things, the oral surgery, and he had his jaw wired shut for a period of time. And he filed a claim with Worker’s Comp. Filled out all the paperwork, dutifully sent all the material that they needed, and he waited. Nothing happened. So we called. Did you get it? Yes, we did. Is it a legitimate claim? Yes, it is. Has it been approved? Yes, it has. Will there be a check? Yes. We waited some more. No check. Called again. Case number. Called on such and such a date. He checked with so and so. Are you folks still alive? Are things still going there? How are we doing? Oh yes, legitimate claim. Check will be to you. We waited, and we waited. Made numerous calls, nothing happened. So one day when I was going to Columbia anyway I stopped in to the Worker’s Comp office, face to face, had all his paperwork, walked in. Tried to be Christian, tried to be kind about it. It was a challenge. I said, can you tell me where we are with this case? It started way back here. And here we are now chronologically. How are we doing? Are we still on the same page, the same planet? Where are things? And they said, oh yes, sure, fine, no problem. I said, could I speak to a supervisor? So I spoke to a supervisor and she assured me that there had been some reorganization in the department and some changes had been made, and as a result the whole process had been slowed down but a check would be coming. And very shortly thereafter a check came. But we had to be persistent. On a human level I had to call, and call, and call. I am not trying to compare God to Worker’s Comp. Please don’t misunderstand. But humanly I think you can see the point that even physically how many calls does it take to get one transaction changed? Calls, numerous calls. It doesn’t seem like one call does it any more. So on the human level we have learned to be persistent. And we have learned to take it in stride. We say, sure, that’s the way people are. Without realizing that God also asks us very directly and very concisely, he doesn’t try to conceal it, he is right up front, and He says be persistent. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. He tells us that. God expects us to do the same thing in dealing with Him. But if we don’t understand that we can get frustrated and feel like God doesn’t care, Like He doesn’t really hear us or want to help us.