Persistent Praying

I'm not a good "asker."  Maybe it's the indepedent side of me?  Maybe it's just not wanting to be a bother?  I don't really know, but I know it generally takes quite a lot of gumption for me to ask for something, be it help, or to borrow something, to go somewhere ... and once I ask, I MIGHT ask one more time if I didn't get an answer or got a vague answer, but that's IT!  I will NOT keep asking ... regardless or how bad or how much I want or need what I am asking for!  I just don't have it in me!

However, today we were talking about active vs. passive faith in my trek with the Israelites.  One of the points was that we often have a part to do in what God's doing and we looked at examples of how people expressed their faith in an active way.  One of the examples I read was about Blind Bartimaeus.  It made me think not only about my faith, but about my praying as well!

"Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."  "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road."      Mark 10:46-52

Blind Bart (as I like to call him) had faith!  When he heard Jesus was around, he started hollaring!  And he kept on and kept on even when people told him to stop.  You can just see the scene now.  I hate to admit that I would have probably been one of the ones saying, "shhhhhhh ..." or "quiet, leave him alone, don't you know he's tired of all the people?"  A couple of years ago when we flew home from a far away central Asian country we were excited to find that Ty Pennington had been on our flight.  For us, it was the end of a 12+ hour train ride, an 8 hour flight to London and then a 6 hour flight HOME!  That last 6 hours was the most miserable as we were seated with a rather obnoxious and DRUNK bachelor party!  So, as we were in baggage claim, I overheard some of my girls saying, "That's Ty Pennington.  I'm gonna go get my picture with him!"  To which I quickly replied, "Oh, give the poor guy a break, he's got to be as miserable as we are and now you're gonna ask him for a picture?  Leave him alone!"  (for those of you who wonder, they just waited til I was out of sight and got the picture anyway! - ha!)  BUT, all of that to say, I'm not one for asking ... definitely not one for asking twice ... or being persistent, at least not persistently asking or begging.  But Blind Bart was!  He saw this as his only chance to see and he went for it.  Man, if I would only remember that ... those things we pray about for years and years ... those are the things we've got NO chance of unless we get Jesus involved!

Would Jesus have stopped if he wasn't making such a ruckus?  Was it his persistance that got him what he was begging for?  You know, if it is persistence in asking that Jesus is looking for, then my prayers need to change.  I am pretty good at praying for what I need or want.  Sometimes I am even bold and ask God for a miracle (once or twice) ... sometimes I'm a little more timid and ask for what I want, but then add the disclaimer that He can do what's best.  Not sure why ... maybe it keeps me from being disappointed if/when I don't get exactly what I ask for.  BUT, then I read this ...

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' " Luke 18:1-5

Ummmmmmmm ... Why do I not do this?  Does my persistence (or lack of it?)  communicate to Jesus how much I want something?  Does that matter in His economy?  Does that make the difference?  A lot of times I think, "he knows what I need/want ... I've asked tons of times before ... and anyways, He knows what I think ... why keep asking??  If/when He's ready, He'll do it!"  But that's NOT what He's saying here.  He's saying the woman got the attention of the judge and what she wanted by being a drippy faucet, by keeping on asking, by being persistent!  And I don't!

I think it's time to take out the prayer list and get busy asking ... and asking and asking ... and asking!

I know that praying doesn't always get us what we want.  I know sometimes the praying changes us rather than our circumstances.  I know there are conditions to praying - sometimes our prayer is simply for selfish reasons - sometimes it's not for God's best and we just don't get it.  I do NOT think that praying persistently and boldly means I now have my own version of Genie.  I DO think, however, that I've been too timid ... and maybe not cared enough to keep bringing those requests before God day after day, year after year until He answers!  That changes today!  Gonna make that list and ask EVERY day until He answers!!
Luke 11:5-13 says,
"Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.  "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"        

I remember being taught a long time ago that the tense of ask, seek and knock means to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.  It's something you to today and tomorrow and the next day and the next ... AGAIN, they got what they asked for because of their boldness to ask.  I think I'm gonna go now cause I've got some praying to do!!