Hummingbirds are surprisingly very tenacious. As I sit at my desk in the kitchen, there is a direct sightline to our back deck where I used to have our hummingbird feeder hanging up. This summer I purchased a newer bigger one with the hopes of attracting and feeding more birds, but every few days the feeder would fall to the deck, and either spill, or in my trying to hang it back up, I would spill much of the sweet liquid that they so desperately crave. I have since given up rehanging it, and it just lays there: a reminder of what I had hoped for, and a reminder to them of what they had previously enjoyed.

Even now, I watched a hummingbird fly around the fallen glass bottle and hanger, hoping for something to drink; an answer to their hard-earned energy spent flying to my deck once again. It flew away without its reward. It has done this every day or so ever since the feeder fell, and that has been 2 months now. Hummingbirds are tenacious.

This visual of their determination to regularly search out fulfillment to what they crave and need is a perfect reminder to ME and hopefully to you as well of what our prayer life needs to be like. There are certain things I have been praying for for a very long time, while other things just for a short time. As we know, the Lord hears EVERY prayer we say, but that doesn’t mean He answers them when we want or desire the answer, and it doesn’t mean He answers them HOW we desire. What we do need to do is be persistent, just like this tiny bird.

Now, because I have neglected to maintain the feeder and I have witnessed this critter’s tireless pursuit, its time to refill and reset it for this persistent little bird so that its determination will pay off and be rewarded. Although God’s timing is not ours and He doesn’t need us to be that persistent (in fact a prayer spoken in earnest 1x is enough), He does hear us every time and will respond to our diligent and faithful asking.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.
And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’
“And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’”
Luke 18:1-8

Do not give up praying about your heart-felt needs or Godly desires. In time, He WILL answer in a way that you will know his decision. He might have mercy on you as I will for these hummingbirds and just for the sheer joy of it, besides seeing their dedication rewarded, refill your feeder!

Food for thought: Please know that these blogs I write are just as needed for me to live by as they might be for you. What a beautiful lesson the Lord gives to me, and I can give to you, therefore hopefully we both can benefit from it! Isn’t He good?

Fun facts: Hummingbirds have great memories: they remember every flower and feeder they’ve been to, and will regularly seek them out; for the flower, they know how frequently it refills with nectar.

Photo by: Kari Wiseman – A Hummingbird and the Feeder