Jesus:  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. (Luke 11:9)

My youngest son and I discussed last week’s meditation about accepting NO as an answer from God, and he brought up the issue of persistence in prayer. In the verse above, Jesus instructs his disciples to keep on asking. It is preceded by Jesus’ parable of a man insistently requesting bread from a neighbor for an unexpected guest. He told a parable in Luke 18 about a widow persistently seeking justice. 

Persistence in prayer reveals to me how serious I am about what I’m asking. (God already knows!) If I pray only occasionally about reconciliation of a broken relationship, for example, is reconciliation really my heart’s desire? Repeatedly discussing my request with God also gives me an opportunity to untangle His NO’s from His NOT YET’s and to hear His reason for a negative response.

May all of us find the right balance between submission and persistence!
 
Here are some suggested prayer topics for this week:
 
1.  Thank the Lord for the rain He gave us on Saturday.
 
2.  We honor our retired missionaries by remembering and praying for them. Bob and Rose Palfenier, with Avant Ministries, served in South America and Mexico and live now in El Paso, Texas. Bob and Rose celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in June. One of their recent prayer requests is for three of their grandchildren, who are “far from the Lord.”
 
3.  But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)  Lord, I want to be that tree!

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea