How Much More?

/ First United Methodist Church of Orange/

Luke 11:1-13

From time to time every one of us goes through a hard season - a series of bad turns and misfortunes that leave us shaking our heads and asking “how much more can we take?” Sometimes its physical or mental health issues, sometimes its a series of losses and grief in our lives, and sometimes its just the news of the world around us weighing us down and filling us with discouragement.  “The water is already up to my neck, and its still rising rapidly…Lord, have you forgotten me altogether? Do you not know I’m at my limit? Lord, how much more?!”

During life’s soul-withering moments, in the heart or at home or around the world, we will find no small comfort in the routine and disciplines of daily prayer and worship.  But Jesus urges us to prayer and worship less for the moment of order and comfort they bring and much more because they are a means for knowing God’s true heart and self. In this world, Jesus points out, even the most heartless and cruel person will on occasion find a way to act kindly toward others. If we who are wicked know how to do this, how much more will God grant the Holy Spirit to us?