Should we ask God for something more than once? If we do ask more than once, is this a sign that we have no faith?
It’s a sign of the times in which we now live that Bible knowledge is so deficient that church-goers have to wonder if going to God in prayer more than once is a lack of faith. A few (but only a few) examples:
- Great Question: Does repeated prayer for a need show a lack of faith?
- How can prayer be seen as a lack of faith?
- Persistence or Lack of Faith; Is Begging in Prayer showing God That You Don’t Trust Him?
Between the apostate churches, the pulpit wolves and ungodly TV preachers, praying to God has been turned upside down.
So the question: should a believer pray more than once to God for something? Or is that showing a “lack of faith.”
Jesus taught two different parables on this very subject.
“And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
—Luke 11:5-10
Remember this phrase from Jesus: “yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.”
IMPORTUNITY
Jesus told his listeners to importune.
importune, verb: 1. to ask (someone) for something or to do something in a repeated or annoying way; 2. to press or urge with troublesome persistence
So that there would not be any misunderstanding, Jesus related a second parable on the same subject AND Jesus explained WHY he was telling the parable.
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.”
—Luke 18:1-6
This is usually known as the parable of the “importuning widow.”
Praying to God repeatedly for a request is NOT a lack of faith.
It is being obedient.
Again, it is a sign of the times in which we live that the apostate churches have turned constant prayer into a lack of faith.
Something to remember–especially when it comes to praying for lost loved ones.
“I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”
—2 Timothy 1:3
“Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?”
—1 Thessalonians 3:10
“Pray without ceasing.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:17
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”
—Luke 18:1
[Not to faint: Not fainting either by reason of God’s delay to give us the things we ask of him, or through laziness, and remission of our duty, before our life doth determine. – Matthew Poole Commentary]
Importuning God is part of every believer’s effective end times preparation.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Answered Prayers: Pray According to the Will of the Father
- Do You Know if You are Going to Heaven? Be Sure!
- Indignant and Offended: Real Christians do Not Dismiss God’s Word
- Finding Favor with the Lord
- Discipleship: Jesus vs The Apostate Churches
- Discipleship Deception: The Apostate Church
- The Nature of Spiritual Deception
by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
image: Master isolated images, FreeDigitalPhotos.net
© Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report, 2012-15. © Mondo Frazier and End Times Prophecy Report, DBKP 2007-2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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