Ask continually, and it will be given to you; seek continually, and you will find; knock continually, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and the one who keeps on seeking finds, and to the one who keeps on knocking it will be opened.

What’s the point of the 6 occurrences of the present tense, each followed by a direct promise? Persistence, or perseverance, in prayer will be rewarded.

In vv11-13, Jesus provides an illustration as confirmation that the promises attached to His commands will prove true. Why? Because God, your heavenly Father, is good and He gives good things to “those asking Him” (v13, again, present tense).

It seems pretty clear that Jesus is commanding and encouraging persistence, or perseverance, in our praying. We are to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. That kind of persistent praying will be answered, and because God is our Father, the answer will be good.

This may bring up other questions though. Why does Jesus command persistence? Why does God not give us what we need, especially if we are desperate (see the parable in vv5-8), when we first ask? Is God being mean or playing games? From another perspective, wouldn’t it demonstrate a lack of our faith if we keep on asking and not just pray one time and leave it with God? Basically the questions can be divided into two categories, God’s character or our faith. I believe, of course, the answer to all the questions above would be “No”. Here are a few reasons I believe Jesus commands us to be persistent and persevering in our praying.

• It teaches us dependence. If we received an answer immediately every time we asked, we could easily begin to view God as our own personal cosmic servant who does as we wish. When we have to keep asking, especially in desperate, needy times, we learn just how truly we are dependent upon His power and mercy. When we realize if God does not answer, there will be no answer, we’ve learned a great lesson on who we are and who God is.
• It deepens our faith. While it may at first seem that to keep asking implies a lack of faith, it actually requires our faith to grow and deepen. We have to “keep believing” in order to “keep asking”! If all of our prayers were answered immediately, our faith would weaken because we would come to view prayer as some sort of mystical, magical cause and effect. However, as we have to keep seeking, we have to believe even more in God’s goodness and character. It becomes harder to believe as time goes on with no answer. As a result, our faith deepens.
• It sweetens the reward. If we received answers immediately, our appreciation would decrease and dwindle. We would begin to think we actually deserve these gifts. We actually are worthy and merit these graces. That’s not the case and perseverance teaches us this fact. In addition, the more desperate we become, the more joyful and grateful we are when we receive from our Father’s hand. In other words, even when He withholds, He is doing us good!
• It fosters appreciation. Not just for the gift, as stated above, but for our Father. It helps turn our attention from the gift to the Giver, from the grace to the Gracious One. If God always answered immediately, we would view Him as nothing more than a good luck charm. But if He withholds, and we understand our dependence and we continue to cling to Him, the joy of receiving the gift does not overshadow the joy of knowing the Giver!
• Timing. Since God is our heavenly Father and sovereignly cares for us, we are to keep asking some times because right now is just not the right time for us. The grace will be good for us later, but not right now.

So does all this asking, seeking, and knocking ever bother God? Are we pestering or nagging God?

Absolutely not! Our persistence reveals our dependence on Him as our only source and our faith in Him as our good, loving, wise Father. In other words, it glorifies Him for us to keep coming to Him until He answers in His own way, in His own time, for our good. He gets the glory, we get the grace! It’s only nagging if we keep asking for something He has clearly revealed is not His will for our lives. It’s actually more than nagging; it’s sinful to try to convince God that he is wrong and we are right in the matter.

So, have you given up praying for a lost loved one? Are you in a desperate, needy time? Have you neglected to pray? Are you starting to doubt God’s goodness because heaven seems silent? Whatever the reason may be that we are not praying and praying and praying, let us turn from it and turn to Luke 11:1-13!