When my daughter was young, she kept asking me for the same thing over and over again—she wanted a cat. I kept putting her off, but she never gave up. Every year for Christmas, she would ask for a cat. As a ten-year-old, she must have thought that she would never get what she was asking her father for, but she never wavered. Believe me; she was persistent with her asking!
As I was leaving my office one evening, I noticed a sign across the street at the veterinarian’s office. It read, “Kittens for adoption.” It was the first time I had noticed a sign there. As I read the sign, immediately my daughter’s persistent request for a cat came to my mind. I decided I would surprise my daughter that evening with a little kitten. I walked over to the veterinarian’s office and adopted a little calico kitten for my daughter. I took Princess home that evening and gave her to my daughter. Kelsey Ann was so surprised and filled with joy.
In prayer, God expects His children to come to Him with their requests. He expects us to come to Him with a childlike faith—as my daughter had when she kept asking her earthly father for what she wanted. This type of faith reveals itself in its persistency. The requestor never gives up. He or she keeps asking, just like my daughter did.
Do you know that need you have that you have prayed about time and time again? You oftentimes grow weary in petitioning God, but something within you keeps you going into your place of prayer and asking. You don’t know when, and you don’t know how, but you know that your Heavenly Father listens. You hang on and keep asking. You wait, you trust, and you wait some more. What keeps you coming back time and time again is that childlike faith within you.
Beloved, your Heavenly Father is thrilled to give you His good gifts from above. In moments you least expect, He will shower you with answers to prayers, rewarding your childlike faith and persistence in bringing your every need to Him. As you go to your place of prayer today, believe that He desires to bless you—keep asking, keep believing, keep trusting, and keep praying. His best for you is coming.
SCRIPTURE:
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:7-11, NLT).
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I know today that you desire to bless me with good gifts from above. I bring my requests to you today, asking you to meet my every need. I thank you for blessing me with answers to prayers in the past. Each answer to prayer increases my faith, confirming to me that you listen to my requests, and you are attentive to every aspect of my life. Thank you for all of the good gifts you have given to me. Thank you for increasing my faith. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
(The above is excerpted from the book, Be Encouraged: A Daily Devotional, Volume 2 by Gregory A. Johnson. Copyright © Gregory A. Johnson. All rights reserved.)
Know that you are loved,
gaj
