Doug's Doorstep

Subhead

Wearing Out God

Image
Body

Perhaps we remember the story of Samson, one of the judges of Israel in the Old Testament. Samson had great strength and was able to destroy numbers of the Philistines because of his strength.

But, Samson had a weakness. He liked beautiful women, and it was one of these that led to his downfall. Her name was Delilah. The Philistine lords had offered her money to find the source of his strength. She would ask him, he would tell her, and she would do what would take his strength away. After doing this she would say, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.” (Judges 16:9) NASB. At this, he would break the bindings placed upon him, and his strength remained a mystery.

After doing this three times, she began to play on this emotions. She would say to him, “... How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” 16 It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death. (Judges 16:15-16) He told her the truth, that his hair had never been cut. So she cut it, called for the Philistines and sure enough, his strength had left him. He was taken, his eyes put out, and he was made to work at the grinding wheel. Later, his hair had grown out, and he was brought out at a festival and made fun of. He was able to pull the building down, and more died at his death than when he was alive.

I want to look at that verse 16 once again. Notice she pressed him daily with her words, and he was annoyed. He told her the truth to keep her quiet and lost his life because of it.

While reading this I thought of how important it is to speak to God every day. He must know that we depend on Him for our survival. We should try to wear God out with our continued speaking to Him. Of course, none of us can wear God out, but we should be trying.

In the New Testament, Jesus tells a parable of the persistent widow. She went to see the judge every day, and finally, even though he didn’t have to, he gave her what she wanted. Why? Notice in Luke 18:5, “yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming, she will wear me out.”

So, are you “wearing God out” with your prayers? This is a must for us in our lives. You can take any matter to God. You can seek forgiveness for any sin that you have committed when you are willing to repent of that sin. Perhaps, the reason we may have problems is because we have forgotten to pray to the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of all life.

If your prayer life has slacked off, why not begin again today? What a blessing you’ll find it to be!