And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say. Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you. Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luke 11:5-9.
THERE ARE three principal characters in this quotation; you and the two friends mentioned. The first friend is a desired state of consciousness. The second friend is a desire seeking fulfillment. Three is the symbol of wholeness, completion. Loaves symbolize substance. The shut door symbolizes the senses which separate the seen from the unseen. Children in bed means ideas that are dormant. Inability to rise means a desired state of consciousness cannot rise to you, you must rise to It. Importunity means demanding persistency a kind of brazen impudence. Ask, seek, and knock mean assuming the consciousness of already having what you desire.
Thus the scriptures tell you that you must persist in rising to (assuming) the consciousness of your wish already being fulfilled. The promise is definite that if you are shameless in your impudence in assuming that you already have that which your senses deny, it shall be given unto you—your desire shall be attained.
The Bible teaches the necessity of persistence by the use of many stories. When Jacob sought a blessing from the Angel with whom he wrestled he said I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
When the Shunammite sought the help of Elisha she said.
As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee, and he arose and followed her.
The same idea is expressed in another passage:
And he spake a parable unto them that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man, and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying. Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself. Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she weary me by her continual coming.
Luke 18:1-5.
The basic truth underlying each of these stories is that desire springs from the awareness of ultimate attainment and that persistence in maintaining the consciousness of the desire already being fulfilled results in its fulfillment.
It is not enough to feel yourself into the state of the answered prayer; you must persist in that state. That is the reason for the injunction Man ought always to pray and not to faint.
Here, to pray means to give thanks for already having what you desire. Only persistency in the assumption of the wish fulfilled can cause those subtle changes in your mind which result in the desired change in your life. It matters not whether they be “Angels,” “Elisha,” or “reluctant judges”; all must respond in harmony with your persistent assumption. When it appears that people other than yourself in your world do not act toward you as you would like, it is not due to reluctance on their part but a lack of persistence in your assumption of your life already being as you want it to be. Your assumption, to be effective, cannot be a single isolated act; it must be a maintained attitude of the wish fulfilled. [And that maintained attitude that gets you there, so that you think from your wish fulfilled instead of thinking about your wish, is aided by assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled frequently. It is the frequency, not the length of time, that makes it natural. That to which you constantly return constitutes your truest self. Frequent occupancy of the feeling of the wish fulfilled is the secret of success.]
