I believe God is the God of the midnight hour and He’s wanting us to be persistent in prayer. In his teaching on prayer in Luke 11:5-8, Jesus makes this fairly clear: ” And He said to them ‘Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you.’ ‘I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.’
This parable is similar to the parable in Luke 18, the story of the persistent widow and the unjust Judge. Jesus is saying, ‘you hang in there with God, even when it seems like it’s too late. You pray harder at the midnight hour and God will reward your persistence.’
God is a rewarder of persistence. He appreciates tenacity, endurance, steadfastness and He’s looking to build those things into us. He wants us to have a bulldog faith that gets hold of God and is not moved by circumstance. That will not let Him go until we receive His blessing.
The story in Matthew 18:21-28 again makes it clear God appreciates persistence:”Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”
This woman was not going to take no for an answer. Conventional thinking tells us – ‘it’s not right to bug someone it will annoy them and will make things worse, if we push too hard it will backfire.’ I believe God enjoys it when we will not take no for an answer, when we refuse to believe anything other than His word. When we come to Him, we ask and keep on asking, we seek and keep on seeking, we knock and keep on knocking, when we just don’t give up!
I believe it is the midnight hour for many of us. It is the midnight hour for the Church. God is looking for radical people who dare to believe God for radical things. Who hang tough in the midnight hour and continue to bang on His door and say hey, ‘I’ve got some hungry people to feed.’ God rewards that kind of faith with more than enough – Jesus said you will get all you need.
Sometimes it seems like God saying ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you. ‘ or ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.’ or maybe it seems like He is saying nothing at all. I dare you to persist with God to continue to storm heaven with your prayers and to sue God for His promises for your life.
There is an urgency in the midnight hour and I know God hears the knocks, He is listening carefully to see if you have the tenacity and faith and perseverance He is looking for. If you hang in there, even if it’s only because of your persistence. God will rise up and give you all you need.
God hears your knock at midnight.
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