Have you ever head this?
Maybe you can relate to this?
There's a story in Luke 18 that goes like this. There was a widow (poor, defenseless, completely dependent on others) who kept bugging a crooked judge who thought a lot about himself. This woman needed some justice, because her neighbor was being dishonest with her. The judge didn't really want to do anything for the widow, but because she was as persistent as a puppy needing to go out, he finally relented and helped the widow. The story continues in that we can see that when an evil judge can be persuaded to help out the helpless, how much more can we depend on God to answer our persistent prayers?
Is that how you pray? Persistently? Begging and pleading with God for those that are lost? To release you from hard situations? To bring deliverance to a friend or family member? I think a lot of us don't pray that way because we aren't completely dependent on God the way the widow was. We know that there are sometimes earthly paths to get what we want. Or we have regulated God to be the One we turn to only when the really big stuff happens.
To think about God as someone we can nag feels almost sacrilegious. He has bigger things to worry about, like famine and draught. People being massacred. Natural disasters and supply chain issues to work out. To plead to God for my own needs feels selfish and unnecessary. But that is NOT what God says to us in His word.
God wants us to come to Him with everything we are, for everything we need. Jesus tells us that God knows the number of sparrows in the world, how much more does He care for us? We have a God capable of handling the largest of world disasters while also still caring for our most intimate needs. God loves you, God desires a relationship with you. God wants to bless you. Don't let your own finite feelings dictate how you interact with God. God is our Abba Father, our Daddy, our sweet and comforting parent that wants to take care of you. He does not want you to be anxious about anything, but with everything in prayer and petition to present your requests to Him (Phil. 4:6). He wants you to cast all your anxiety unto Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)
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