Prayer, Importunity in – Charles Spurgeon

A TREE does not always drop its fruit at the first shake you give it. Shake it again, man; give it another shake! And sometimes, when the tree is loaded, and is pretty firm in the earth, you have to shake it to and fro, and at last you plant your feet, and get a hold of it, and shake it with might and main, until you strain every muscle and sinew to get the fruit down. And that is the way to pray. Shake the tree of life until the mercy drops into your lap. Christ loves for men to beg hard. You cannot be too importunate. That which might be disagreeable to your fellow-creatures when you beg of them, will be agreeable to Christ. Oh! get you to your chambers; get you to your chambers, you that have not found Christ! To your bed-sides, to your little closets, and “seek the Lord while he may be found; call you upon him while he is near!” May the Spirit of God constrain you to pray. May he constrain you to continue in prayer. Jesus must hear you. The gate of Heaven is open to the sturdy knocker that will not take a denial. The Lord enable you so to plead, that at the last you will say—”You have heard my voice and my supplication; you have inclined your ear unto me; therefore will I pray unto you as long as I live.”