It May Be Yours Too!
From Luke 18: 1 Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. 2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary.' 4 For a while he refused but finally said to himself, I don't fear God or respect people, 5 but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me." 6 The Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Won't God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?" (Common English Bible)
In talking with a group of my pastors recently, the discussion of prayer came up, and someone shared their frequent prayer and I said it was my favorite prayer. It is quite simple and powerful, and it may perhaps be a prayer that you may have prayed from time to time. "Lord, I don't know what to do!" There it is. It's a prayer that puts, in my opinion, everything and everyone in perspective; God is to Whom we pray and hold absolute and final sway in all things; Us, and we don't have a clue sometimes at some of the things that come or are thrown our way. It shows that we do have to, as Jesus taught in this parable, pray all the time. "Pray without ceasing" was Paul's teaching and experience. And his life was nothing like mine; he was a true master of suffering and service in the midst of all that he suffered. He would be the first to say that he would not have been able to say Yes to Jesus had he not known how to pray.
A bishop once shared a sorrowful story from his days as senior pastor of a large church. He, like most pastors, was running late on several things expected of him, and as he left the building, he ran into a harried woman who seemed troubled and she asked, "Can anybody in that church teach me how to pray?" Pressured more by his schedule than by his spirit, he replied that someone inside could probably teach her, but he was running late and could not do it himself. It was a regret that he carries to this day. Too busy to pray is usually one of our favorite excuses, but too busy to teach someone who wants to pray is a new one and one we should encounter more often.
The parable is meant to underscore what Jesus expected of the disciples after they had asked to be taught how to pray. It was one thing to learn how to pray, and quite another to pray continuously. If, Jesus teaches, this unjust, unbelieving judge, will find and make time to listen to this widow's demands, won't God "provide justice" to those who "cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them?" The answer is no, God will bring justice quickly. The question remains, will God's Son find faithfulness on the earth when He comes again?
The point of the parable is to pray always and to remain faithful in our answered prayer life. Simple, but powerful thought prayers that we can lift up without saying a word work. Talking out loud to God, with eyes open, while driving works too. Kneeling and saying, "I don't know what to do" with God is a blessing. And then getting up and going about God's business, while listening to God's answer, is the best. Faithfulness will be ours.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to pray more. Staying connected to You is a lifeline we can't be without. As I pray, increase my faith. And may my faith increase the fruit I produce for You and Your Reign here on the earth. Amen.
------------- Pastor at Prayer, a photo I took yesterday of The Rev. Stan Whites of Grace UMC or Corpus Christi.
