Persistence

Then He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot rise up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not arise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
Luke 11:5-8

This short illustration on prayer given to us by Jesus can teach us a lot about how we interact with others as well as how God expects us to interact with Him. It runs parallel in themes to the parable of the unjust judge found 7 chapters later in which a widow repeatedly asks a judge for justice regarding her adversary, and he only relents due to her persistence and not his sense of justice. Similarly, we have here a scene where a man is willing to help another due to that man’s persistence in asking rather than out of any sense of duty or compassion. These two illustrations make their point from lesser to greater. In fact, the verse above is immediately followed by a famous phrase in verses 11-13: “But what father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if his son asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, 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?”

By this we see that the failings of the friend in the illustration are not meant to represent God, since he is greater than any “father among you”. Instead, it demonstrates that persistence is both expected and required. Consider your personal goals. How many of them fail due to lack of persistence? Is there a job you are pursuing? A raise you have requested? A client who refuses to answer calls? Be persistent. People are busy, even those who seemingly have nothing to do. Some people are consumed by their work. Others by their hobbies and interests. But how many of those people, no matter how busy they are, if a tire blows out on their vehicle, would fail to pull over and take care of it? Be the blown out tire. Persistently call out to those people day and night to be remembered. With fallible man, this is not a fool-proof way to get what you want. They might consider your persistence to be annoyance and decline your request on that basis alone. But how many of those people, if you had only mentioned it once, would actually consider your proposal? Probably none. So don’t allow yourself to become less bold by rejection. Move onto the next client, job, or even prospective spouse and be persistent with that one. As in the story of the midnight friend, you may find that it is your persistence that takes you where you wish to go, and not your likeability.

But how does this teach us about God? Let’s not forget the context of this illustration. It comes immediately after the Lord’s Prayer (the Luke version, of course). The disciples come to Jesus and ask Him to teach them to pray just like John taught his disciples. After He gives them the model prayer, He immediately presents this illustration. Have you ever thought to yourself (or heard someone else say it out loud) that you’re going to give God a chance? Have you ever said a prayer along the lines of “God, if you’re real, show me”? This is not the kind of prayer we are taught. Instead, we are taught to be persistent. We are taught to go to Him over and over and over again. Perhaps instead of asking God to show Himself if He is real, ask Him to forgive you. Ask Him to make you more like Jesus. Ask Him to drive sin out of your life. And ask Him this over and over again. Those are the prayers He will answer. Those are the prayers with eternity in mind.

May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.