Words of Life: An Enduring Legacyনমুনা

Persistence.

This short parable is not, as some have tried to suggest, about people’s persistence overcoming God’s reluctance. That is not what prayer is about. Simply put yourself in the position of the man in the parable and you recognise, first of all, your own hesitancy to go to wake a friend late at night and ask for help. Jesus tells us we need to learn that we can come to God at any time without reluctance, and he will hear our prayers.

In the King James Version of Scripture, the word ‘persistence’ was not used in this story. In those days, ‘importunity’ was the word. Importunity is a much more urgent word and it alludes to being forceful and annoying. Jesus emphasises that the first obstacle to answered prayer is not a reluctant God, but our fear of stepping out and banging on the doors of Heaven.

Jesus suggests that it is our politeness, or modest sensitivity, that prevents answers to prayer rather than God’s reluctance. We are told to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking if we want to keep on finding. Jesus calls us to continuity and consistency in our prayers.

A woman in my home corps prayed every night for nearly 40 years for her son to return to the Lord. It had broken her heart that he had become a prodigal, and she knocked on the door of Heaven every day, with great persistence, and I suspect some importunity. She was known for her tenacity and her simple yet deep faith that God would hear her prayers. How great was her celebration when her son and his whole family came to the Lord?