Luke 11:1-13
Jesus uses a story about one friend going to another friend's house in the middle of the night to ask for bread as a teaching tool about prayer. The owner of the house initially rejects his friend's requests and tells him to go away. But undeterred, the friend continues to boldly ask, and as a result, the owner of the house gets up and gives him the bread he's been asking for.
So what did you learn from Jesus' story in Luke 11:1-13 about prayer? Do you have any persistent prayer stories that might encourage us? Come on, tell us your story. Tami W.
Being persistent in prayer is for our benefit, not God's benefit. In human relationships, we can get people to change their mind if we badger them enough, or if by our persistence we demonstrate to the person granting the request that we really need it or want it. It's different with God. When we first utter the prayer, even before we first utter the prayer, God knows what the answer is going to be. So why does He wait for us to ask and ask and ask? I think it is because He wants us to learn to be dependent on Him. When we go to Him repeatedly, we do just that....we go to HIM!
What I get confused about is that we can ask and he knows what it is that he has in store for us and if its not his will its not going to happen so why ask for something? Just pray and be ready for his will and accept it is how I see it.
I totally agree with the above Comment:)
God does want us to depend on Him.
He is the only one that we truly depend on.
It is about God changing our heart, and seeking out His will.
I am so thankful of how God works.
It is our job to seek Him out.
The sad thing is when we don't turn to Him and ask for His help. We just think we can do it on our own, this is when we will be so lost and confused. The truth is we NEED God. Continue to GO to Him:)Trust Him:)
Eric and Anonymous, I totally agree! Sometimes it is easiest for me to understand how God relates to us by thinking of how a parent would relate to a child. Sometimes we hold back something while we wait for a certain response from them in order to teach them a lesson. I think of my 15-month-old son and how sometimes my husband and I won't give him something right away, not because we don't want him to have it but because we want him to learn to say "please" first. Instead of teaching us to say please, maybe God is trying to teach us dependence, trust, surrender, repentance, humility, brokenness...who knows? For each individual it is different but I think that, from God's point of view, whatever He is trying to teach us is always of greater importance than that thing we were asking or in the first place!
Dora,
God wants to hear from us. He also wants us to specify what we pray for. Most important, God wants to know if we KNOW what to request and how to do so with His will in our mind and heart. We need to be in contact with God every day.