Anybody who has had children knows they can nag you. They will ask for something over and over and over again. It can be really irritating. Sometimes, we even have to warn them not to ask us for whatever they want one more time.

Believers are children of the Lord. What does He think when we repeatedly ask Him for something? Does He wish we would just stop?

I am not referring to asking for something that is sinful. I am referring to things that the Lord has revealed in His Word.

Probably the clearest picture we have of the Lord’s attitude in this area is found in Luke 18:1-8. In this parable, the Lord refers to a widow who persistently goes to a judge for justice. For a period of time, the judge does not do as she requests. But because she keeps “troubling” him, he answers her pleas (18:5).

The Lord commends this widow’s attitude. He compares her to God’s elect who cry out to Him day and night, even though they do not receive an answer for a long time (v 7). One conclusion we can draw from the parable is that the Lord wants His people to come to Him over and over again with their requests.

I don’t know how long the widow in the parable kept going to the judge. But she teaches us that the Lord is pleased when believers look to Him as the One who will meet their needs. Those needs are met in His timing. Persistent prayers show a humble dependency upon Him. It is all too easy to simply give up when we do not get immediate gratification. Christ wants us to keep going to Him.

In the Gospel of Mark there are a number of minor characters who are given as examples for us to follow. Two of them are a Syrophoenician woman and Bartimaeus (Mark 7:24-30; 10:46-52).

Even though they did not have to persist as long as the widow in Luke 18 did, they are both models of persistence. In the case of the woman, she had good reason to think that Jesus would not grant her request. She wanted Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. But she was a Gentile. Her people were enemies of the Jews. Her background was one of idolatry.

But she had heard that He was merciful. She knew He had the power to heal her daughter. She recognized that she was not a part of God’s chosen people, but she also knew that the power of the Jewish Christ was so great that even if she got the “leftovers” of that power, her daughter would be healed. She did not mind playing second fiddle to the favored Jews.

Bartimaeus was a nobody. He was a blind beggar. But he knew that Jesus was the Christ. He knew that in His kingdom there would be no blind people and that He could heal him.

But when this woman and man went to the Lord with their requests, they were rebuffed. In this sense, they were like the widow before the judge. The woman searched Jesus out and made her request. He pointed out to her that He had come to the nation of Israel, and she was not a part of that nation. It would not be appropriate for Him to take the “bread” of His teaching and power from the children (Israel/the disciples) and give it to the family pet (Gentiles).

It would have been easy for her to accept what the Lord said and move on. The Christ had spoken, and she was unworthy to approach Him again. She could not change the fact that she was part of a country that had opposed His “children” for centuries.

But the text says that she kept asking Him (7:26). The verb is in the imperfect tense. We don’t know how long this went on, but it means that she persistently asked Him over and over. She rested on His power and grace.

A similar thing happens with Bartimaeus. He is begging by the side of the road when he hears that Jesus is entering the town. He starts asking the Lord to have mercy on him, even though he cannot see Him or even know when He might pass by. The people tell him to shut up. They make it clear that he is not worthy of gaining the attention of such a great and powerful Prophet (10:48).

But like the Syrophoenician woman, he knows that Jesus is the Christ, that He is merciful, and that He has the power to heal him. He calls out all the more for Christ to heal him, even though he does not know how long he may have to wait. He continues calling out, even though the large crowd of people demand that he be silent.

Christ answers the prayers of the woman and Bartimaeus. Like the widow, their persistence pleased the Lord. All three are given to us as examples. We should be like them.