Am I Bugging God When I Continue to Pray about the Same Thing?
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We have all been there where we feel as if we are praying for the same situation or the same people over and over. Does the Lord hear my prayers? Is He getting tired of me? Should I just quit praying about this? We can have many questions when there are no apparent answers, but we can also find great comfort and understanding within the Bible itself. Am I bugging God when I continue to pray about the same thing?
Whether or not in the end God says, “Yes” to our prayer request, we can see clearly that persistence is blessed.
Matthew 15:28 says, “‘O woman,’ Jesus answered, ‘your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
After not giving up asking and seeking the Savior, Jesus finally healed this woman’s daughter. Her desperation and her persistence is not dishonored, in fact it is welcomed and encouraged. No matter what the outcome, we are invited to come to God in prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Again, this is not a guarantee that we get what we want in the end. If someone asks for a Ferrari every day, their persistence is there, but it likely doesn’t line up with the Father’s will. 1 John 5:14 makes this clear, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (emphasis added).
So yes, we are persistent in prayer, but as we pray, we also need to ask the Holy Spirit to expose our hearts and examine our motives. We need to be surrendered ultimately to the Lord.
Are we bugging God when we pray about the same thing? No. He loves for his children to talk with Him. I think some deeper questions here could be, “Does God hear me if He is not answering my prayers.” “Am I praying for something in line with God’s will?” “What is the Lord cultivating in me through praying?”
Jesus welcomes us to pray to Him. He encourages us to ask Him. He reveals that He will not always answer on our ideal time frames, but He is with us always. If our requests are things that are drawing us closer to God that honor Him, may we keep asking unashamedly and bring our humble prayers to Him.
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Photo credit: Unsplash/Eunice Lituanas
