Our Father, and not a Mean Guy

How many times have you repeated a prayer to God, believing you are unworthy to stand before Him and so, you need to repeat it several times so that He would see how serious you are and then grant your request?

You may say you haven’t done this, maybe because I was too direct. Well, many pray this way. They repeat their prayers over and over again to get their prayer answered. They speak of being persistent and misuse Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9, which talks about asking to be given, seeking to find and knocking for the door to be opened. We forget that it is not about the prayer but about who we are praying to. The question is, do you really know who He is?

Jesus asked if anyone would go to a friend at midnight and ask for three loaves of bread for another friend of his who came from a long journey and you have nothing to serve him. Jesus said the friend would tell him that he doesn’t want to be disturbed because he is in bed with his wife and children who are asleep. Now, here is my point: Jesus said the friend will have no other choice but to get up and give to his friend as much as he needs, not because he is a friend, but because of his persistence (ref.: Luke 11:5-8).

Many put a full stop here and do not continue reading. Jesus continued, telling us that is why He is asking us to ask, and it will be given to us; we should seek, and we will find; and we should knock, and the door will be opened unto us. Jesus didn’t tell us to ask, seek and knock in line with His parable, but to make things clear that if evil humans can eventually give due to persistence, how much more our heavenly Father who answers immediately (ref.: Luke 11:9-13).

God, who is our heavenly Father, is called Father for a reason. Remember when you were a child, your parents provided for your needs immediately when they saw the need. If you brought it to their notice, you never repeated it over and over again before they listened, or else, they would have been bad parents. Even parents who could not afford to provide for the specific needs of a child would go all out to ensure that their child’s need was met, even if they had to deny themselves some things.

This was what Jesus said in Luke 11:11-13 “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? [12] Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? [13] 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!” This shows that our heavenly Father is so loving that He answers our prayer immediately when we ask, seek or knock. There is no need to keep repeating it over and over again. To repeat the prayer would imply that we don’t trust He keeps to His words, which is our ignorance of who He is, because He is not a man that should lie (ref.: Numbers 23:11); and it is also a lack of faith in Him. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (ref.: Hebrews 11:6).

The moment you ask, seek or knock, start giving Him thanks and praise, believing that He has answered it already. He is our God and knows the perfect time for our prayer's manifestation. Ours is to know and believe that it is answered, but the timing of its manifestation is left to God. This is when we have faith in Him (write-up for another day).

God loves us so much that His nature and characteristics are love. He doesn’t choose to love, because love is who He is (ref.: 1 John 4:8), and He loves us so much irrespective of what we do. Coming to Him with our requests brings Him so much joy. Believing that He has answered it after we tell Him, pleases Him. And He is not mute, if we pray amiss, He will let us know by directing to His word for correction and instruction in righteousness, and to be led by His Holy Spirit (ref: 2 Timothy 3:16). So, when we ask next time we ask rightly because most times when we pray amiss, we pray out of selfishness or ignorance.

So, just trust Him always. If He has heard it, then it is done, just give Him thanks and praise continuously over the situation.