Persistence in Prayer
/Jesus said, “Always pray, and never lose heart.”
In reply we affirm that prayer is an essential part of the Christian life…that it is food and water for the seed of God’s word planted within us. Most of us have turned to prayer at some point in our lives, especially when struggling with unmet needs, overwhelming fears, or crippling circumstancesthat had us feeling powerless. But there are also times for listening in prayer…for being silent and still in the presence of God; these times are also life-giving.
In time, prayer changes the way we see the world, which is why Jesus needed to tell his disciples to “never lose heart.” The parable Jesus told to reinforce the point moves us from the “lesser world” of our present reality to the “greater world” of the Kingdom of God. So hungry are we to receive from God we almost miss how normal if feels to hear about a Judge who cares nothing for God or humans, or to see a widowed woman who has to scratch and claw and demand the right simply to be heard. We hardly notice, because these things are so a much a part of our reality…they seem normal.
When we pray, we see the world as God sees it— a world terribly broken by sin. These first glimpses are terrifying to us. If we are courageous, if we continue to pray and “don’t lose heart”, we also so that God finds this world and its people to be beautiful…much loved by God…and worth saving. We must always pray, and never lose heart.
Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to capture an audio recording of this sermon.