I’m part of the ‘check-before-you-call-someone’ generation. We’re the species that prefers text messages to phone calls. We opt to leave voice mails that don’t intrude on others’ time rather than “bother” them with a conversation in real-time.

When we have no choice but to use our phones to make an actual phone call, we are hesitant creatures. We tiptoe about with nice-isms like, “I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.” Only after we get the go-ahead do we proceed with the conversation.

I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad thing. It’s just different from back in the day when we picked up our cordless telephones and dialed numbers that we knew by rote. There was no way to confirm whether the person was free to chat. So, we just took our chances. Imagine that!

Modern-day phone etiquette requires some set-up time.

But have we let this tentativeness creep into our communication with God? Are we worried about “bothering” Him too much with our requests? Have we resorted to figuring things out ourselves rather than going to Him because it all feels too awkward and long drawn out? Do we feel like we may be taking up too much air time?

Recently, as I read Psalm 55, I noticed how boldly—and frequently—David approached God. He says in verse 15, “Evening, morning and noon, I cry out in distress…” and then David adds, “and he hears my voice.”

David is confident about two things here: one, he can cry out to God through the day and night, and two, God hears his voice no matter how often he calls on Him.

Do we have that same confidence? The enemy is proficient at feeding us a steady diet of lies. One of the things he deceives us about is God’s desire to hear us. He slyly whispers: God is done with your constant nagging. Are you really going to go to Him again? Really? With that same request? Do you actually think He listens? Give up. It’s not working.

But Scripture offers us a completely different perspective.

God’s Word instructs us in Mathew 7:7 to ask, seek, and knock. Here’s my “deeply theological” takeaway from that: if God didn’t want to be bothered, He would have edited out the words “seek” and “knock” from that passage. He would have stopped at “ask.” The repetition reveals God’s desire for us to commune with Him through prayer. When it comes to prayer, we don’t need to exercise caution. We don’t need to check if it’s a “good” time to talk to God.

I live in a country where superstitious beliefs run high. Depending on what certain religious calendars prescribe, there are “good” days and “bad” days. There are even “good” hours to hold religious ceremonies and “bad” hours to avoid them.  Certain rituals can’t be followed by someone who hasn’t had a shower that morning or if a woman is on her period.

But our God invites us to “pray continually.” There are no “bad” times to approach Him.  The word “continually” is defined as “in a constantly repeated manner: over and over.”

In Luke 18, Jesus tells His disciples about a widow who needed a rude and selfish judge to act on her behalf. While the judge resists her pleas, thanks to her persistence, he finally answers her.

Friends, the lesson is simple: pray without ceasing.

I don’t know what you’re dealing with: maybe it’s a medical issue, maybe it’s someone’s hardness of heart as they’ve walked away from God, maybe it’s a relationship that feels like it can never be redeemed. It is likely something you’ve taken to God before.

When the enemy tries to convince you that God doesn’t want to hear your repeated prayers and hisses those two words, “Give up” in your heart, that’s the time to fight back on your knees. Over and over. Over and over.

“Impose” on God with your prayers. He is never too busy, never too preoccupied, never too distracted, and never too tired.

You don’t have to tiptoe into the Throneroom. There is no place for hesitancy in the Holy of Holies. 

Approach God with boldness. You are not a bother—you are His beautiful creation. He invites you to go to Him just as you are as often as you can.

 

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