Meep is persistent when she wants something. That’s a polite way of saying she’s pushy. For example, she has a thing about having to share my food whenever I’m eating. I’ve read that some breeds of cats have this tendency, so it may be genetic. However, it is also quite aggravating at times and often ends with her getting her way so that she will leave me alone. She can be quite ingenious in her methods.
One day I was eating my lunch, and as usual she was sitting on the arm of the chair next to me. Every few seconds her paw would come out and tap my arm, or reach for my plate. I would wave her away or try to ignore her. This had been going on for several minutes without results, so she changed tactics. I had a glass of water sitting on the end table in a plastic tumbler. With the precision and audacity only a cat can pull off, she swatted the glass and knocked it over. As the water went pouring out, I jumped up and put my plate on a nearby footstool. I ran into the kitchen to grab a towel. When I returned, I found Meep making off with part of my lunch.
I would have thought it was just an opportunistic grab if she hadn’t tried the same thing a few days later. She had planned the whole thing. From then on, I had to keep an eye on my water glass or use heavier glassware that was harder to turn over. Cats are persistent. When they want something, they will keep trying until they get it, whether it is a bite of your food or just some attention. They rarely take no for an answer. If we applied that level of persistence to our prayer lives, imagine what God could accomplish through us. In Matthew 15:21-28, a woman came to Jesus with a need and refused to leave until the need was met. She had faith that Jesus held the solution to her problem:
“21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
Her request was granted because of her faith in Jesus’ ability to solve her problem and her persistence in asking. We have not because we ask not or we ask for the wrong things (James 4:2). When we pray in God’s will, we can be sure that He will answer our prayers, but we have to be willing to accept His way and His timing. If we are as persistent as the Canaanite woman, or Meep, we will see Him move in our lives because the purpose of prayer is not to change God’s mind; it is to change us so that we are more like Jesus. Keep praying and see what He will do.