Thursday, August 7, 2008

Ask and Keep on Asking

Check out this verse in Psalm 4:3 (LB) "Mark this well: The Lord has set apart the redeemed for Himself. Therefore He will listen to me and answer when I call Him."

You can mark it down, count on it, take it to the bank, we are God's and He will answer when we call on Him. When we are in need and we call on Him, He will listen.

It reminds me of when my two girls call for me. They are mine so I always answer. I don't always answer them immediately, but I always answer. Sometimes my answer is no or wait a minute, but I always answer.

I was thinking about this. I usually answer sooner when they are persistent. I wonder if that's how it is with God. Does God answer sooner when we are more persistent? It would seem that way. The Bible talks about asking, seeking, and knocking. It gives the example in Luke 11 of a neighbor persistently knocking on the door at midnight. Jesus says, the neighbor may not get up and let you in because he is your friend but he will if you are bold and persistent. Then He goes on to say that's how we should be with our Heavenly Father. That we should ask, seek and knock. Some translations actually say "ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking."

Maybe we need to be more persistent and more bold in our prayers. Maybe we need to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep in seeking, knock and keep on knocking until the doors are opened in our lives.

God thank you that you always listen and you never fail to answer our cries. Help us to be more persisent and to call upon you in our times of need.

3 comments:

James Like said...

I thought of something interesting relating to this subject. If Jayden comes to me and asks me for something I will do as Pastor says, wait a minute, hold on or whatever. But if Jayden comes to me and loves on me and gives me those sweet little kisses, it catches my attention. Wow!! If we seek God's face and try not to focus on His hands, we will get much more benefit. If we approach Him with passionate worship and little "kisses" it definitely gets His attention. Thanks for the encouraging words Pastor.

Rhettro said...

I wonder why it is that we find it so hard to ask God for what we really want. I guess in some ways we think that he has more important things to worry about than our petty needs. Maybe some of us picture him sitting up there like Bruce Almighty with his email backed up full of prayers that he doesn't have time to get to. It took me a while to get out of that mind set.

1 Chronicles 4:10 Says,Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

That scripture changed the way I think about prayer. God is ready and waiting for whatever we can throw at him. When it comes to prayer we should live by the adage, "It never hurts to ask." I don't know about everyone else, but I like to be blessed. I know that there are people out there that need Gods blessing alot more than I do, but I think he has enough to go around. All we have to do is ask. I love this blog Pastor!!!!

Pump Dude said...

What sticks out to me is that I always have to understand that when He does answer my prayers, petitions or pleas it's always in His timing - not mine. It also has to line up with His will. I can be "greedy" when it comes to asking God for help (not necessarily in a financial sense; as long as I'm always coming out "on top" in any situation, then I'm good).
One of the biggest things I'm struggling with right now that I've been begging and pleading with the Lord about has resulted in an answer that I don't like but that I know is His will. While I want to stick my fingers in my ears and scream "La, la, la, la, la - I can't hear You," I know that on the other side of this He has something for me that I can't even begin to fathom.
While our Father above wants to shower us with His blessings and protection, the axiom "Father knows best" rings true with whatever situation we're facing and petitioning our Lord about.
Just like I want my children to learn and grow through the situations that come their way (and I reward them when they act or react the way they should), so our Heavenly Father might allow us to sometimes learn and grow (sometimes painfully) in order to teach, correct, humble or bless. He's not trying to be mean, spiteful or vengeful - He just knows what's best for us and is trying to help us get there His way.
Good stuff, Padre!! Same to you, James & Rhett!!