Keep on Praying

A slight twist on Dory's song:
Just keep praying.
Just keep praying.
Just keep praying praying praying.
What do we do?  We pray pray pray.

(I hope Nemo doesn't mind the tweaking.)

Pastor likes to make the point that the story of "The Friend at Midnight" (Luke 11) is NOT comparing God to the neighbor who doesn't want to hand over the bread.  It's contrasting God with that fellow.  The neighbor didn't love the demanding guy who was banging on his door, but God DOES love us.  How much easier it is to ask (and ask and ask) somebody who loves us and cares about us and has made promises to us!!

But [she wondered] if I really believed that God would give what I need, then why should I keep pestering him about it?  After all, I could pray once, and then just trust Him to do what is good and right, and not keep asking (and asking and asking).  So is my persistent prayer due to my lack of faith???

Pastor said no.

He said a mother would know what it is like to have children talk to them.  Don't parents delight when their children talk?  Isn't that what parents want?  Isn't it great to know that they trust you and enjoy talking to you?  Don't we love to hear their stories and their discoveries and their thoughts and their feelings?

Yeah.  We do.

(Now, hang on just a minute.  I know some of y'all are at the stage with kiddoes that you're thinking, "Uh ... uh ... well, uh ... sometimes I'm not so sure I delight in that.  Sometimes I kinda sorta want to lock myself in the bathroom to hide from it...."  Okay, let me put it this way:  If one of your kids stopped talking to you someday, your heart would break.  And you would miss him.  And you'd have no way to pour out your love to him.  And you'd rejoice when there is some small chance to talk again.  So yeah, you young moms, tired though you may be, hiding in the bathroom though you may be, you do TOO love hearing your kids talk.  It may not always be apparent to you, but deep-down you treasure it.  Trust me on this.)

So, yeah.  I guess I can "just keep praying praying praying."  And it's okay.  It's not annoying God.

Quite the contrary.