Faith Demonstrated through Persistent Prayer – Week of October 17, 2022

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15

Can I have a snack? Are we there yet? Can I watch a show? When is recess? Can you help me?

Oh, kids. They have a lot of questions, and they sure can be persistent when we don’t answer them right away.

In the verses above, God is telling us to be persistent. To ask. He wants to hear from us. He wants us to go to him on all occasions. He wants us to ask, ask, ask. And in our asking, he will listen. Every single time.

In asking, we are learning his will. We should always ask knowing that his will be done. Sometimes in our asking, we throw in our own two cents as to how we think a situation should go. Well, the truth is, the Good Lord does not need our advice. For when we go to him with our prayers, we are going to the God of the universe—the one who sharpened the tops of the Tetons! The one who hung the moon and stars in the night sky. The one who knit you together in your mother’s womb. He knows what is best for us. He knows our comings and goings and what he has for our future. So we can take the pressure off ourselves and completely rely on him to answer our prayers as he sees best.

Once, my youngest son asked me for a snack…wait for it…while holding a snack in his hands and eating it. It wasn’t his best moment. Sometimes, in our requests to the Lord, we can be just like my son. We don’t even realize that God is taking good care of us right in that exact moment. We ask for more when we have all that we need.

Then, there are other times when we go to the Lord and simply just say his holy name. We can’t even formulate the words that are on our heart. He hears us. He knows our hearts and our minds, and he listens to our cry. Our prayers don’t need to be elaborate. He just wants to hear from his children.

Be persistent. Go to God throughout the entire day with all of the highs and the lows and everything in between. He wants to hear from you. He’s waiting with a listening ear.

We can have confidence approaching our Father in heaven. That’s powerful. The one who sits on the throne of grace wants to hear from you. So speak.

Prayer:
Heavenly listener, thank you for your time and attention to my life. Please help me be persistent in prayer and remember that you love to hear from me. Forgive me when I try to deal with life on my own. Grant me patience as I wait on you, Lord. Amen.

A Question to Consider:
How is your prayer life? Ask friends or co-workers if they have any tips on how to stay persistent in prayer.

Early Childhood Ministry Educator’s (ECME) Devotions are brought to you by WELS Commission on Lutheran Schools.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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