Boldness, Persistence and Confidence

UV 3600/10000. Boldness, Persistence and Confidence I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything just because he is your friend, yet because of his persistence and boldness he will get up and give him whatever he needs. Luke 11 v 8 Faith in the friend produced boldness and persistence in the one who asked for the three loaves of bread. He was not asking for his own need but for the need of a friend who was visiting him. The need was desperate as there was no food to serve in the house. Likewise, we need to persist in asking for our needs from the Lord. He is not the One to say He is sleeping and does not want to be disturbed for the God of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is One who rewards boldness and persistence in asking of Him. Jesus Himself demonstrated this quality of recognizing and rewarding persistence of the woman who had the issue of bleeding and the blind leper Bartimaeus. Our needs may be physical in terms of our health needs or monetary or material, emotional for healing, for forgiveness, for getting rid of bitterness or depression over a particular issue. It can be relational for instance, loneliness, strife, anger. It can be a need in relation with a career goal or professional challenge. It can be the need of others whom we know. It can be a spiritual need like asking for the gift of the Holy Spirit or gifting by the Holy Spirit. Whatever be the need, we need to believe that God is able to answer it or meet that need. We need to persist and ask with boldness and confidence that if it is the will of the Father, He will grant it. If it is a thing we are asking the Lord for, we need to keep asking. If it is a goal we want to accomplish, we need to keep on knocking on heaven’s doors for help, for wisdom, for resources, for grace, for success in that venture. If it is a particular quality of the Spirit or fruit of the Spirit like love, joy, peace or patience, we should keep seeking it. In sum, we got to be at it to beat it, to get it, to receive it. The advantage of such persistence and boldness being rewarded in due time or God’s time is that our faith expands and becomes stronger with each prayer answered, each goal achieved, each blessing received, each seed bearing fruit. Zerubbabel was a man of such persistence and boldness and hence, the mountains or huge challenges became flat as plain land before him. Jesus Himself demonstrated such persistence or determination as scripture says that He set His face like flint or with great unswerving determination towards His greatest cjhallenge- the cross of Calvary.