DAY 12 | KEEPING ON ž ž

centering thought

“The preoccupation and fear were real, and they occupied my emotions. I prayed … calling out to the Lord for a solution. The more I prayed, the more I was challenged to keep praying and persevering …” –from Regina

encouragement from God’s word 

Read: MATTHEW 7:7-11

devotional direction  

In this age of heightened political correctness, it is tempting to feel like a nag for persisting with a request. “I don’t want to be a pest,” we say to ourselves, and so we let our plea fall away. We don’t want to appear needy or greedy or inappropriate or obtuse, and so we fall silent and carry on without having obtained the thing we hoped to obtain. 

The approach is understandable, even if Scripture encourages a different tack.

In striking contrast to our natural tendencies, Matthew 7 tells us not to give up but to keep on. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, keep on praying, and eventually, it says, you will receive. But before you take this as some name it-claim it magic trick, understand what the “keep on” is for.

As Regina’s tale from the pages of The Stories We Tell demonstrates, one of the most profound benefits we receive from choosing to come before the Lord in prayer is that an even greater desire to pray is stirred up. God exhorts us to “keep on” in prayer because he knows that as we look to his will, his ways, his strength, his voice, his insight, his sufficiency, his grace, we will find that which we’re really looking for—namely, more of him. 

question to ponder

What desire of your heart have you withheld from God in prayer, for fear of his refusing your request?