Experiencing God's Presence #338

Experiencing God's Presence #338

As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you.

2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6

Elisha was a spiritual pest. At least three times on the day of Elijah’s departure, the younger prophet rebuffed requests to let the older prophet depart in solitude. Elijah was about to be “taken” by the Lord—though no one seemed sure exactly what that would look like—and he told his protégé to stay behind. But Elisha insisted on following his master through Bethel, through Jericho, and through the Jordan River. He would not be absent while God was doing something amazing.

God honors that kind of persistence, as pesky as it seems at the time. In fact, He strongly urges it. “Give the LORD no rest,” He urged the praying watchmen of Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:7). “Keep on asking. . . . Keep on seeking. . . . Keep on knocking,” Jesus commanded His disciples (Matthew 7:7). Jesus told parables of a noisy neighbor asking for bread at midnight (Luke 11:5-8) and a widow relentlessly pestering a judge for justice (Luke 18:1-8), describing them as pictures of prayer. He responded to a blind man who wouldn’t quit yelling at him (Luke 18:35-43) and to a woman who kept asking for a favor, even after He had spoken discouraging words to her (Matthew 15:22-28). Both were rewarded with miracles. Apparently, God welcomes pests.

If you aren’t content with a casual relationship with God and pester Him for something more, you are honored in His Kingdom. Never arrive at a place of saying, “Okay, that’s enough. That’s all of Him I need.” Pursue higher levels, deeper depths, more of the Presence. You are promised that those who seek will find. And those who seek persistently will find more.

Lord, Elisha’s words to Elijah are my words to You. I will never leave You. I will always want more and will always keep asking.