A hesitant driver, waiting for a traffic jam to clear, came to a stop on the expressway ramp. The traffic thinned, but the timid driver still waited. Finally, an infuriated voice came from behind shouting: “The sign says Yield, not give up.”

The primary actors in today’s parables neither yielded nor gave up. In fact, that really is the lesson of these parables: The Power of Persistence.

Jesus told two parables with almost identical messages about persistence. The stories are different only in their setting; they make the same point. The first story is recorded in Luke 11:5-13. Jesus told that parable just after he had taught his disciples to pray, using the prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer. We can imagine the parable answering a question from Peter, “Master, should we really bother God w…