Scripture: Luke 11:5-8
Key Verse: “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” Luke 11:8
Spiritual B3
Persistence is what makes the difference. Some of the best and worse situations of your life were because of persistence. You persistently got it right or your persistently got it wrong, but your outcome was the result of your persistence.
Jesus makes it plain in the parable and I found this out in troubling fashion—relationship, or even what you perceived as the strength of a relationship will not always get you the outcome you desire. In my experience there were some relationships I thought I had, worked to cultivate, and I’d even go as far as to say relationships that had come at great personal sacrifice to demonstrate my commitment to the relationship but yet they didn’t yield equitable results just because the relationship existed.
In the Biblical context, it would have been a great insult to the guests of the man who was unprepared to receive guests if he had nothing to set before them. He had to do something. The parable wouldn’t make sense if the man asking for the loaves of bread wasn’t a real friend with the man who was already in bed, sleeping, and had locked down for the night. But what the parable uncovers, and what I learned, is that relationships are often things of convenience. I learned the hard way, just because you will do it for others doesn’t mean they’ll do it for you if it requires personal sacrifice or inconvenience. Your midnight need and knock will show you the difference!
The other lesson in this parable is the revelation I received about persistence. Persistence is about the two P’s: Priority and Practice. If what you are asking for or praying for in the context of our 40 Day journey, is not a priority or has not become a practice, you are merely exercising wishful thinking. If you want to develop persistence it requires you to make it a priority and practice that you will not stop knocking on the door until you get what you want!
With the demonstration of the prioritization and practice of persistence, you get more of what you consistently make choices for. I remember my own experience; one day on the journey it hit me how successful I had been in every area of my life where I displayed persistence, no matter how great or small, healthy or unhealthy, productive or unproductive—it was all the same. What if today is the day you decide to accept that you already have all the persistence you need? You have demonstrated persistence before, and you can do it again.
It is time to channel that persistence in the right direction of positive persistence for God’s glory and watch yourself start to receive everything you need and more in the overflow blessings of God’s glory.
CPR Kit for the Soul:
- Centering: Sit still and meditate on areas of your life where you have been persistent.
- Prayer: Ask God for revelation on how to take better command of your areas of persistence and begin channeling them toward positive persistence for His glory and your overflow blessing.
- Reflection: In the areas where I have shown persistence, how was I able to be persistent and how can I channel that knowledge into positive persistence?
T3 Prayer Booster:
- Father God, please still my wandering mind and busy body long enough to sit and identify the areas of my life where I have shown persistence.
- Lord, after I have received the revelation of areas of my persistence, please grant me the further revelation of how to harness that power of persistence and channel it into the positive persistence that promotes Your glory and my overflow blessings.
- Lord, grant me the revelation of the circumstances and triggers so that I may turn my positive persistence into a habit and a lifestyle.
