Of all the silly games that I learned as a child, the one I remember best was a game some of the older kids in the neighborhood played—one that we didn’t exactly brag about to our parents. “Knick Knocking” was the practice of approaching a neighbor’s front door, knocking loudly several times, and then running away. Serious Knick Knockers would retreat to a nearby hideaway so that they could watch the unsuspecting neighbor open the door and search for a visitor. This was actually entertaining to the mischievous kids on our block!

The more I’ve grown in my Christian faith, the more I’ve come to realize how many of us play Knick Knocking when it comes to prayer. We bring a request before God and “knock” 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 His 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.”2 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 it when we come to Him! He never slumbers or sleeps (see Psalm 121:4), so we should never give up knocking or run away and wonder if He’ll answer. He will!