Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

When I was in college, I worked my way through with some financial aid from the State of Washington. One of the jobs that was difficult, but I liked, was cold-calling for Prudential; setting appointments for executive benefits products we marketed to companies. Over time, I had gotten so good that they paid me $50 an appt, whether or not it led to anything. One month I earned over $1,000 working part-time. Back in 1995, that wasn’t bad.

But I learned that persistence pays. And I came up with a term, “pleasantly persistent” that I would use to describe my call-back process. I used flashcards to record conversation notes on accounts and date stamped them. Sometimes I would have 5-7 follow-ups before gaining an appointment. The prospective client’s comment many times was, “My current person doesn’t check in as much as you do.”

Jesus is continuing his teaching on prayer here. He had just given his disciples a model prayer to go off of, and now he gives the attitude and the focus under which they should pray. He tells them to be DOGGEDLY PERSISTENT. Don’t give up! ASK OFTEN. He says even a neighbor who doesn’t want to help will, if we are persistent. How much more will our loving Heavenly Father respond when we pray to him?

We are then presented with three different types of prayer petitions: 1) Ask, 2) Seek, and 3) Knock. They represent three different stages of intent and passion in prayer. Asking is giving general requests to God. This might be for our daily needs or ordinary things. Seeking can be searching the heart of God to find his will and asking for it. And knocking is boldly calling on God to answer based on his character and promises.

When we draw closer to God, we become better at stages 2 and 3. And we gain the rewards of our persistence: gifts requested and given, spiritual treasures sought and found, and new spiritual closeness and connection with God unlocked like a door opened up to us.

Do I want to hear God? More than that, to know his heart? Would I enjoy a relationship with him whereby he calls me “Friend”?

Lord, teach me to persistently pray to you for my needs, cares, and concerns. May I seek after your ways first and foremost in life. This takes extra time. Help me to clear my schedule and make “time cuts” for you! Guide me to the doors you desire to open for me spiritually and may I serve you well!