| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 32 |
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The lesson of earnestness in prayer is taught in the little parable of the friend at midnight. The good man within did not give his neighbor food because the neighbor was his friend, but because the man would not go away from the door until he got the bread he wanted. The lesson is importunity in prayer. God wants us to be earnest, not rebellious and willful, but always earnest and persistent in our praying. He is pleased when we want things very much and when we believe in His willingness to give them to us. The Syrophoenician woman is an illustration of our Lord’s teaching. She knew that Jesus could heal her daughter, and she simply would not be driven away without the blessed gift. Many prayers fail to be answered because the person praying gives up too soon. A little longer patience and continuance in prayer would have brought the answer.
The love of human fatherhood is used in the last verses of our lesson in assuring us that God is willing to give us blessings, even the best that He has to give. We certainly would not say that human fathers are kinder than the Heavenly Father. No true earthly father would mock his son by giving him a stone when asked for bread. We may turn the words about a little and say also that our Heavenly Father will withhold from us the stone which we unwittingly asked for, supposing it to be bread. God will not give us anything that will harm us, however persistently we may plead.
The best of all gifts is the Holy Spirit. Not only is God willing to give us things we need in this world, things for our bodies, supply for our passing needs; He is willing also to give us the best things of His own love, even Himself, the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is ask, but the asking must be sincere. It must be earnest and importunate. If we get the richest of God’s gifts, and yet do not get God Himself, we have missed the best.
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