Friday, June 13, 2008

One Prayer Devotion - #5

The Art of the Nag:

When my kids want something really badly (to get a new Indiana Jones whip, to get a new bat, etc.) they have a tendency to nag. It's cute at first but then it starts driving me crazy. They are very persistent in their wants and desires. They think they have to have something so badly.

This is looked upon as a sign of immaturity, because children are not able to delay gratification. In fact, Dr. James Dobson says to "...teach and practice the habit of delayed gratification. Don’t over identify with the child’s pain. If you give in to their every wish you will develop weak kids that don’t understand delayed gratification (which is one of the keys to success in this life)."

God wants us to be strong, not weak; successful, not failures. This is why He sometimes practices delayed gratification on us. But a delay is not always a denial. Braeden got the new whip and Joe got a new bat. It's all in The Art of the Nag.

In Luke 18:1-8 we have the Parable of the Persistent Widow (read it as part of your devotion). She nagged and nagged until she got what she wanted. She had nagging down to a science.

What have you stopped asking God for that you really felt like was His will? Read James 5:16.

Stop for a quick moment today to take that request back to the Lord. Just like the widow, the real "art" of nagging will be found in your persistence.

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