Matthew 7:7-12
Ask, Seek, Knock
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Luke 18:1-8
Parable of the Persistent Widow
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 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? 8 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 teaches us the importance of persistence in the Parable of the Persistent Widow...Our repetitious ways towards God, His Son, and prayer are important...Repetition, as shown by the persistent widow, did not just end up in nothing getting done...The judge saw that see got justice...So she found justice in her persistence with the unfair judge...The unjust judge said even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, this widow keeps bothering me, so I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me...
God will bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out in the day or the night...If we pray with great persistence, we can believe that things get done and see that the same experience happen as the persistent widow...If we continue to be persistent we can see that what we are doing in a brand new Light...So let us ask in our prayers...Then let us seek in our prayers...Then let us knock on the door and it will be opened for us...Our Father will not give us a stone if we ask Him for bread...If we ask for a fish, He will not give us a snake...So even though we sin our Father will give us good gifts to His children...Our Father in heaven will continue to give us good gifts to those who ask him!...
And Jesus adds this in His persistence teachings of prayer...Jesus commands us to love our neighbors, including our enemies...He wants us to love the entire world...So in everything we do in life, let us do unto others what we would have them do to us, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets...Let us be also persistent in our love for our neighbors...