Juice Juice Juice Juice Juice Juice Juice ...

My son Lucas was making a request for juice the other day. But simply asking for or requesting it wasn't sufficient. Instead, he continuously repeated his request until I started to get it and also the whole time while I was getting it for him. It was annoying and yet kind of funny at the same time.

I was saying "OK, I'm getting it for you. Be patient kiddo. It's going to take a minute." I've gotten his juice for him thousands of times already. He should know by now that I'm going to get it, and he should also know that there is a process to preparing it before he will have it in his hands to drink.

Then I wondered if that's what it is like when we pray to God continuously for something. He has previously answered my prayers thousands of times before, but the evidence of the response is very rarely instantaneous. Depending on the request, there is usually a process of some sort (often something that I wouldn't have imagined on my own) that falls into place while the answer materializes.

Jesus does encourage us to be persistent in Luke 11:5-13 though. The Bible also says in James that you must believe and not doubt (is this specifically about asking for wisdom, or for anything?). And I must admit that when Lucas does ask repeatedly like that, if what he's asking for is in his best interest (like juice) then it does inspire me to try to get it for him quicker.