Image from bible.knowing-jesus.com
Hear Here: http://bit.ly/2MAoApm
1 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent.' 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.' " 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:1-8 NRSV)
The founder of the movement that ultimately became the denomination in which we belong, The Reverend John Wesley, towards the end of his life reflected on the revival that God sent through his efforts in sharing Jesus, wrote, "I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out." It is as though Wesley sensed the people called Methodists would reach a point where complacency and secularity would have a negative impact on our soul. Some say that now, right now, we are a dead sect. We do have the "form of religion," but do we have "the power?" And in an even more serious note, Jesus asks, "When the Son of Man (that's Jesus!) comes, will He find faith on earth?" The Message Version has Jesus posing it as "But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when He returns?"
The passage, dear Friend asks the question about our prayer life. The parable of the persistent widow sets the example for the way we should pray. Jesus sets it in a context that all could identify with; a judge whom people probably thought of judges in their day, did not fear God nor respected people, and were not surprised that he didn't do right by the widow. Until Jesus said, the judge admits that he does not fear God, and did not respect people, but because of her persistence, he would grant to her her request and grant her justice. Jesus then says, "Imagine what God will do for His people "who cry to Him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, He will quickly grant justice to them." Then the question.
Sunday during my sermon in Marble Falls I shared again that when I received the call from the bishop about my being a district superintendent, Nellie and I went to God in prayer to ask what I could needed to do for the good of His kingdom and the first was for the people called Methodists needed to recapture the power of prayer. I still believe and stress that. Real spiritual power comes through the spiritual exercise of praying. We can ask for the power to come again, to truly fill out the form that we have. I truly don't believe God has given up on us, but we are too dangerously close to giving up on God. We should not take anything for granted. We need God more now than any other time in history. But God is still as close to us as ever. We have to but ask, and God will grant those things that we need to do God's work.
PRAYER: Loving God, as we pray, we pray for our prayer lives. We don't want to be stale and certainly not dead in our spirits. We have to ask for new life in our prayers, new power in our witness, and new light as we share. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Pray today like never before!
Blessings of love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
