One of God’s greatest blessings in my life has always been the children he has given me provision over. Although still a blessing, the experience has taught me to no surprise that as they grow each day brings on more challenges than others.
Despite the difficulties, any day has brought forth it always overwhelms me with such joy when I come home from a day of teaching to find my four-year-old son waiting at the door for me just as he knows I am about to be pulling up. It only takes but a few seconds before he is ready to jump all over me and begin to interact with me, filling me in about his day. As parents, there are rules we set in place for our children to follow because we want them to be safe and we do what we think is best for them. As our four-year-old child develops, there is a continuous process of falling short of our expectations, meeting all the “rules” or “guidelines” as I like to call set in place for him. Despite how much he falls short of our expectations it never steers him away from running to me and wanting to spend time developing a deep relationship with me every day when I get home from work.
I only wish I could say this was always true as it pertains to my teenage children. Unlike my younger son, my older children at times attempt to disconnect from me when they feel as though they have committed a transgression against their mother or me. It is almost as if they think they can hide what was done from us or better yet they can hide from us. It was not long before the Holy Spirit simply asked me if my behavior was so different in my relationship with God. What I come to realize is that I at times have begun to act just like my older children, attempting to hide from God rather than seek him. What a hard reflection of myself I had to face on how fast I am to avoid my heavenly Father when I too feel as though I have committed a transgression against him.
It is unfortunate that prayer at times can be one of the first things that my failures cause me to let go of when the Father is just waiting at the door for me to run into His arms and talk to him. Despite the enemy trying to distort the truth, scripture reaffirms that God wants to have an intimate relationship with us. How refreshing of a reminder it is to know our Father in Heaven longs for us to remain in relationship with us even though we fall short of His glory and is a Father who takes delight in not only listening to our prayers but answering them.
Luke 18:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!'”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Jesus’ parable in this part of the Scriptures is once again reaffirming the importance of remaining in prayer with the Father. It is at times easy to allow life’s circumstances to cause one to lose heart in prayer, but Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18,”Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.”
The widow’s persistence to the ungodly judge allowed her request to be granted, however, not because he found favor in her, but instead she was a bother to him and out of his own self-interest.
How much more fulfilling is it to know that our Father in heaven, unlike the judge, is a fair God who – without self-interest – willingly wants to hear and answer our prayers.
So I ask, are you seeking God and telling him about your day?
– Frank D.