Pray this way …

I was never a fan of the comedic Marx Brothers, but I also never thought I could learn a lesson about prayer from one of them.

We can, as Charles Krieg shares from Bartlett’s Book of Anecdotes …

Some of us, especially we older people, remember the Marx Brothers, Chico, Groucho, and Harpo. On a visit to New



York, Harpo Marx was bombarded by requests from various charities to appear at their benefits. After one particularly persistent woman had called him a dozen times in two days, Harpo reluctantly agreed to appear at an event for her charity. She offered to personally escort him to the event. As they were leaving Harpo’s hotel room, the telephone began to ring.

“Don’t you want to go back and answer it?” she asked.

“Why bother?” Harpo replied wearily. “It’s undoubtedly you again.”

This lady knew what she wanted and persisted until she got it. That’s the same way King David prayed, as demonstrated in this text …

“But I keep praying to you, Lord, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation,” Psalm 69:13.

David knew what he needed, or at least what he wanted, but even though he had already inquired of God for it, he hadn’t received what he asked for.

Yet.

And so he persisted …

“I keep praying to you, Lord …” and “… hoping this time you will show me favor …”

David didn’t ask once, fail to immediately get what he wanted, and then pout in a corner. Instead, he continued to pray to the Lord, each time “… hoping this time you will show me favor …”

That’s how Jesus taught us to pray …

“Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: ‘Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, “A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.” And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, “Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.” But I tell you this — though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. And so I tell you, 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. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened,” Luke 11:5-10.

There are many elements to prayer, with one of the most important being that of persistence. How persistent are you with your requests when you come before the Lord?

Scotty