Monday, July 02, 2018

Insistent Prayer

Scripture says that each person, who gives his allegiance to Jesus, God has granted that person the authority to live as his children. Authority is delegated power. We are not born with it. We cannot earn it. It is granted. Jesus earned it for us on the cross. And it is given to us based on our faith response to him.

There are several places where being God's child overflows into our daily living.

How often have you been in a store, and saw a mother and child, and the child is going:
            "Mommy, can I … ?"
            "Mommy, can I … ?"
            "Mommy, can I … ?"

I suppose a lot of us wonder why that mother doesn't keep the child quiet? Or why isn't that child better behaved?

Often, the parents will have a talk with the child, and say something like: "I heard you the first time. You don't need to keep asking. You only need to ask once."

The child keeps asking, because:
            (1) he hasn't received answer;
            (2) he is secure in his relationship with the parent.

He is confident of his parent's love, and in his parent's desire to bless. What does the above parental lecture say to the child? Maybe it says the child is not as secure in the parent's love as he thought.

Jesus assures us that our Father is different. He says to keep asking, to keep seeking, and to keep knocking. He says, be like that child.

It is the good, and loving, nature of the Father that assures he will listen, and that he will answer. Human parents do love their children. (Although, their love is not perfect. Hence, the impatience with being asked, and asked, and asked.) Even with imperfect love, they will not give their children something that is bad for them. God's love is perfect. He has perfect patience. He will only give what is good.

And not only is he willing, he is more than able. Too see the Father, one needs only to look at Jesus:
  • Who raised the dead; (Even someone dead for four days.)
  • Who fed 15,000 people with one person's lunch;
  • Who reconstructed human bodies beyond what human science can do. 

To see the Father, one needs only to look at his works:
  • The human eye which can detect over 7,000,000 colors;
  • The sun although, it is approximately 93,000,000 miles away, it has enough power to keep all things functioning, and all things growing.
  • The earth which is situated perfectly, the correct distance from the sun, the correct composition, the correct processes and functions, to be the perfect home for mankind;
  • DNA which not only contains all the "recipes" for creating all the structures and processes in the human body, but also each process to complete the recipe, and instructions for getting the building blocks, and instructions for what to do and where to send the completed product, when it is finished.

Our Father is motivated to respond to our prayer. He encourages us to "bother" him. And he is fully, and completely, able, and ready, to respond. He invites us to approach, to seek him, and to open our hearts.

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