Read Matthew 7.Take a closer look at Matthew 7:7-8. Jesus encourages perseverance - active patience, persistence, determination - in prayer, not because He is reluctant to answer our requests, but because it allows us to express our trust and dependence on Him, which is the basis of powerful and effective faith. The tense of the Greek verbs in verse 8 implies an ongoing action. As if to say, "For everyone who [keeps on asking] receives; he who [keeps on seeking] finds; and to him who [keeps on knocking], the door will be opened." I think the same could be said of FOLLOWING. "For everyone who keeps on FOLLOWING..."
A similar passage of scripture is found in Luke 11. One phrase that really stands out there in the New Living Translation: "if you knock long enough." How many of us give up asking/seeking/knocking/FOLLOWING too soon? It's not that we have to beg God to answer our prayers; He could certainly answer them BEFORE we even ask. I think that God wants to see our persistence. He wants us to acknowledge a sincere dependence on Him. What if we give up too soon? What will we miss?
What if the Israelites had stopped marching around Jericho on the sixth day (Joshua 6)? What if Naaman had only dipped in the Jordan river six times (2 Kings 5)? What if Elijah had stopped praying for rain on top of Mt. Carmel on the sixth attempt (1 Kings 18)? They would have forfeited the miracle. Instead, they kept FOLLOWING God's directions. I love the underlying message of those stories: the miracle is only one lap, one dip, or one prayer away! We need to live with that kind of holy anticipation!
Try harder. Try longer. Don't give up. Don't give in. Keep FOLLOWING. If you FOLLOW long enough...
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