Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Luke 11:5-13

Dear God, the verse of the day was verse 13, about knowing how to give good gifts. But I don’t know that I’ve ever paid much attention to the context of this verse before. Just before verse 5 is the Lord’s Prayer. Then verse 5 says, “Then, teaching them more about prayer, he told them this story.” So not only did Jesus teach us the parts of prayer through the Lord’s Prayer, but he also taught us persistence. He even intimated that our persistence might change your mind, capping it with the idea that you won’t give us anything that is bad for us if we are coming to you.

Yesterday, I told someone a story about me asking you for things back when I was unemployed in 2005 and you denying them to me. I was so frustrated at the time, but then I learned that you were making me wait until you had the thing that was really good for me ready for me. I think one of the keys to how I was praying was that I kept asking for things, but doing it within the context of submitting to your will. Now, I was frustrated, to be sure. There were a couple of times that I was angry with you for not either giving me something I wanted immediately or clearly telling me which path to pursue. Someone asked me at the time what you were teaching me through the experience, and I responded that I didn’t think I would know that until it was all over. That turned out to be true.

Father, the lesson I learned back then that I continually forget now is that you have our timing and it is almost never my timing. My job is to stay focused on the present. I have things I petition you for every day. There are relatives and friends for whom I pray. There is my work. And even though I don’t necessarily see progress being made on some of my prayers, I have learned to be at peace through my persistence and the knowledge that you are good and things will work out the way you want them to. So today, in this moment, I thank you for that reminder and submit to your plan (and the timing that goes along with that).

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen