Of all the silly games I learned as a child, the one I remember best was a game some of the older kids in the neighborhood played, one we didn’t exactly discuss with our parents. “Knick Knocking” involved approaching a neighbor’s front door, knocking loudly several times and running away. Serious Knick Knockers would retreat to a nearby hideaway so they could watch the unsuspecting neighbor open the door and look all around for a visitor. Knick Knocking served as a great form of entertainment for the mischievous kids on our block.

The more I’ve grown in my Christian faith, the more I’ve realized how many of us play Knick Knock when it comes to prayer. We bring a request before God, knocking loudly, only to drop the prayer and run away before the door opens or an answer comes. But Jesus tells us to keep knocking. He invites us to come right up to God’s doorstep, throw our knuckles across the door, and make noise. Knocking requires effort, fast or slow, light or vigorous, but the key to knocking is repetition. We’re supposed to keep at it until the door opens.

P. T. Forsyth wrote, “The chief failure of prayer is its cessation.” Sometimes we simply stop praying too soon. But the truth of the gospel says that because Jesus Christ made a way for us on the cross, we can come to our Father’s house at any hour of the day or night and call on Him. He loves when we come to Him, and he “does not slumber or sleep” (Ps 121:4). Therefore, we should never quit knocking or run away and wonder if He’ll answer; He surely will.