Jesus said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him. Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you, keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who Ask Him?” Luke 11:5-13
My words…
Prayer for me
When my children were young, they often asked me for the same thing over and over again. I found it to be very wearisome. I reminded them that it wasn’t necessary to keep asking – I heard it the first time. But they reasoned I would forget. (I often forgot things – You well know.) When it came to responding to the needs and wants of my children, their specific request held very little weight. I had already decided what they would get, and my decision was based on several factors of which they were unaware. They were too young to understand. As I contemplate our relationship (I the child, You the Father), I praise You for encouraging me to be persistent in bringing my requests before You. I needn’t be concerned that You will find my persistence wearisome. I may keep asking You for the same thing day after day, year after year, and You will hold those requests in Your heart until such a time as You see fit to grant them. How often have I asked for a deeper faith, searched for spiritual understanding, knocked for true wisdom? And You have given to me from Your storehouses. I had an inkling of how to give to my children, but You are the Supreme Giver. You know how to give the very best gift because You are the very best gift. Your Spirit, freely living in me, is the answer to my prayers because through You, I grow in faith, knowledge, and wisdom. Since we’re on the subject of persistence, I would like to take this opportunity, yet again, to ask for another measure of You in me. And I plan to keep on asking, and asking, and asking.
