Persist

Read: Matthew 7:7-11

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. Matthew 7:7

IN WORD

God is a welcoming God. He extends His invitation and spreads His mercy far and wide. Entrance into the Kingdom is never earned, always given. So why do Kingdom benefits come so slowly sometimes? Why do we rarely get immediate answers to prayer? Why do we have to wait to hear God’s voice, receive His promises, and fulfill our calling?

Because (1) we don’t live on uncontested territory, and (2) the Ancient of Days who has patiently worked out His purposes and endured eons of resistance wants His people to know the value of persistence. Kingdom citizens aren’t “drive-thru window” kind of people. We understand the nature of the battle and are willing to endure to the end. The King is not cultivating impatient, entitled petitioners in His Kingdom. He’s growing mature, patient people with an eternal mind-set. He has to; that’s the kind of Kingdom He has created.

The world is full of people who have given the “Christianity thing” a shot and walked away after a little trouble or some unanswered questions. It’s also full of people who still consider themselves Christians but have given up on ever experiencing its fullness. But the real Kingdom treasures are given to those who see far across the landscape and long into the future. He rewards those who have overcome.

IN DEED

Learn to overcome. No books or movies focus on people who hit a couple of minor speed bumps and kept going, or on those who encountered major setbacks and gave up. Good stories involve enormous obstacles, intimidating odds, and the will to endure in faith, and God is always writing a good story. Yours will require tenacity because His Kingdom is contested and often obscured. But those who endure will receive. Doors will open to the persistent. Prayers are answered for the tireless. And those who keep on going will get what He promised.

ADDITIONAL READING: Hebrews 6:11-15

The ability to wait, and stay, and press belongs essentially to our intercourse with God.

E. M. BOUNDS