Won't Take No For an Answer - A message about being persistent in our faith

One of my first "disasters" in preaching school came within the first couple of weeks of school. I was in Old Testament History I with Richard Rogers. At the beginning of the class, he had mentioned that we would be having quizzes on Mondays. The content of the quiz would be made up of last week's material and some of the previous week's material. That would mean you didn't just remember one week's worth of information, but you needed to be ready for the second week, as well. I remember taking the quiz and being frustrated, knowing I didn't fare so well. I was correct, my score - 61% - OUCH! That was terrible! I felt embarrassed and ashamed. However, it caused me to rebound like I never had done prior in all my years of education. From that point on, I either made a perfect or only missed a couple, always getting a score of 98-100%. It took some persistence to make that happen!

There have been times in my life which I had to be persistent in fighting through obstacles to make something happen. The obstacles take the form of many things. However, persistence is the key.

Sunday, we looked at Matthew 15:21-28 and the scene of the persistent Canaanite woman who had a girl who was demon-possessed. As we reflect back on that lesson, here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

• Identifying Him ~ The woman identifies Jesus as "Lord, Son of David" when she approaches Him. How do we identify Jesus when we are talking to Him? Is He our Lord? Is He "Hey, you?" Is He "Jesus" (said in a vain, frustrated tone)? Is He our Savior? Whatever we identify Him as, are we making sure He is priority in our life? That is one of the main factors in how we identify Him.
• Waiting in the Silence ~ One of the most intriguing part of this passage is Jesus' initial response to her plea. His response is silence. Silence is filled with question marks. We may be saying/thinking "Umm, hello...anyone there?" as we wave our hand in front of someone's eyes to see if they are listening. This woman has just come to Jesus with an urgent plea regarding her daughter and he says nothing. Are you good at waiting in the silence? I'm not. As we are waiting, think about this, there may be times in our life that God is delaying our request, rather than denying it. That was powerful to me!
  
• Crumbs of Power ~ Jesus initially is explaining to the woman that Israel (this woman is a Gentile) is the privileged people and should be receiving God's choice benefits. Her reaction entails that she simply wants to receive some of the crumbs. She knows that if she were to have simply a little of Jesus it would be enough to save her daughter. How about you? Are you content with just a little of Jesus or do you need Him to show up "big" before you're content? Crumbs are all we need! Enjoy the crumbs of power through faith!
• Don't Take 'No' For an Answer ~ This woman was not going to let anything become too big of an obstacle to make sure her daughter was healed. We can show those around us how awesome of a God we serve as we are examples of being persistent in our faith. When you see a "no" coming your way, keep praying...you never know what will occur as a result!

Keeping on keeping on is a skill that takes persistence to display itself. It would be a skill that would be beneficial for people to understand when it comes to things of the unknown, like how God responds to us. We are going to receive a lot of "silence" when it comes to asking God for help because we simply cannot hear His voice in the audible form. So as we are waiting, how are we going to respond? What are we going to do when God seems to "show" us that He is responding to our request? May we be consistent and persistent in our requests that we make toward Him.

Now it's your turn...when has persistence in prayer or life paid off? When has it not?

Prayer: Why Must I Be Persistent?

I was a poster child for persistence when it came to trying to get something from my parents. Just this Father's Day (2011) I sent my father a card which I found in the store that modeled this past behavior. The card had a lot of questions in it, as if it were coming from a kid, asking over and over. It gave my father a good laugh (in fact, he comments often about "Where do you find these cards?").

Finding people's prayers or prayer life in the Bible is very fascinating. To see how they prayed, when they prayed, possibly the obstacles that they had to overcome in praying, the depth of their prayer, etc. are all interesting. Are there any particular areas that display prayer or praying, in the scriptures, that you find most appealing?

As we reflect back to Sunday's lesson, here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

• Builds Relationship ~ When beginning a romantic relationship, a lot of times the first few minutes of the initial interaction may cause you to really be attracted to the person, aka "love at first sight." However, you really don't know the person, even if you're attracted, until you spend time around them and with them. That has similarities to our relationship with God. You may have some emotional connection at one point in our life, but spending time with Him continually in prayer, is how you will develop that strong relationship you need.
• Relieves the Load ~ Having pent up emotions can play a number on your body. The longer they are kept in, the more they weigh and the more you want to tell someone. Ever felt good after telling someone what was on your mind? It might even be gossip that you have to tell someone. Regardless, you understand that feeling of getting it off your chest to tell someone. Take time to tell God about things that are on your mind - good and bad. Let Him take some of the load.
• Haven't Forgotten ~ They say when you are applying for a job to check in once in a while to see how the search is going. It lets the employer know you are still interested in the job. Similarly, when we approach God with a request more than once it lets Him know that it is still on our minds and it hasn't left us.

Constantly asking of God will not be the answer to "getting what you want." We don't always receive what we want, even if we do ask more than once. However, I believe there is good that comes out of being persistent in our prayer life.

Have a great Fourth of July! (2011)