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This sentence is from Japanese the Manga Way panel 371, translation as given
in the textbook.

> 和尚にたのまれていた肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>  I'll also go ahead and finish off that physical labour that the priest
> asked me to do.

My question is regarding the speaker's (Kousuke) choice of たのまれていた. It seems
clear that ～ている is being used in the "state resulting from an action" rather
than the continual sense, i.e. it refers to the priest's request putting
Kousuke in a state where he felt obliged to fulfil it. But if the request is
still standing, why is he referring to it in the past tense? たのまれていた gives me
the impression that "I was asked, but it's not an issue now". To me たのまれている or
simply たのまれた make more sense.

One possible explanation is that Kousuke had been letting this request stand
for a while, to the extent that he felt sufficiently disconnected from "the
state of being requested" to use the past tense.

Context: Summer is getting too hot for strenuous exercise, so Kousuke decides
he'll suspend his jogging until cooler days arrive in the fall. He also
figures he should take care of the wood he'd promised to chop for the priest
at the nearby temple before it gets any hotter. (verbatim from the textbook)

Kousuke delivers this sentence as an internal monologue.
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question
grammar
Use of ~ていた vs ~ている to refer to a resultant state
```

    和尚にたのまれていた肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。
    
```

From this expression alone, we cannot assume that his task is not an issue
now.

However, as you suspect,

```

    和尚にたのまれている肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。
    
```

has the same meaning. However, it cannot be said that 'たのまれている' is more widely
used than 'たのまれていた'.

Note that sometimes 'たのまれている' cannot be used in a similar context: For
example, if the date or the time of the request is specified, you can say

```

    和尚に三日前にたのまれていた肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。
    
```

But you cannot say

```

    和尚に三日前にたのまれている肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。
    
```
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2013-11-06T17:24:58.757
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answer
I'll keep my answer brief and as simple as it can be. 頼まれていた is the verb
modifying the noun - 肉体労働 - here. Essentially, just like in English, both
sentences mean, pretty much, the same thing, but the nuance is different.
頼まれていた shows that the monk tried on multiple occasions to get us to do what he
meant us to do, and 頼まれている means more or less that the monk is nagging us with
completing it, constantly asking us to finish it.
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answer
> 和尚にたのまれ _ていた_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>  和尚にたのまれ _ている_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>  和尚にたのまれ _た_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。

... all sound alright to me and mean pretty much the same thing.

> 和尚にたのまれ _た_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>

sounds to me like "~~~ physical labour that the priest asked me to do." You
can say

> 和尚に _先週_ たのまれ _た_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>

...adding 先週(last week), but not 先週から(since last week).

> 和尚にたのまれ _ている_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>

sounds to me like "~~~ physical labour that the priest has asked me to do."
You can say  

> 和尚に _先週から_ たのまれ _ている_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>

...adding 先週から, but not 先週.

> 和尚にたのまれ _ていた_ 肉体労働も今のうちに片づけてしまう。  
>

sounds to me like (しばらく前に)たのまれていた(けれどまだやっていなかった/そろそろやらないといけない), like "~~~
physical labour that the priest asked me to do (a while ago but I haven't done
yet/I should be doing now)".
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answer