And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Questions for Reflection:
This parable invites us to compare and contrast our Father in Heaven with the judge...what do you notice is different or the same about them?
In the same vein the parable invites us to consider what our perception of God is. Do you think it is similar to the description of the judge? Is that accurate to who Jesus says God the Father is?
Consider the question at the end of this passage...what is the requisite for having faith in this passage?
Prayer of the Week:
My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You now to be restored in You, to be renewed in You to receive Your love and Your life and all the GRACE and MERCY I so desperately need this day.
I praise You Jesus, that You have made union with my Father in heaven possible through for me through Your life, death, and resurrection. Thank You for reconciling me to my Father in heaven who loves me very much. Thank You for the gift of prayer so that I might experience this deep relationship in the moments of my day.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit I love You, I worship You, I adore You and I embrace You in this time of prayer. Wow, to think that in this moment I am talking with my God on a deep and personal, sitting down over a cup of coffee, kind of way.
You are amazing. You are available. You are the creator of the universe, Savior of the world, the King above all kings and You have time for me and everything that is important to me right now. Oh, Jesus thank You for making sure I am never alone. Come Holy Spirit and empower me to pray well and enjoy You this day.
Jesus, refresh the mindset I have about prayer, expand my understanding, fine tune my framework so that nothing (especially me) gets in the way of using this gift. Help me to keep from seeing prayer as another thing on the “to do” list but rather help me see prayer as the way to experience Your radically gracious availability.
Father, I want to “always pray and never give up” but I confess that so often I don’t even think of coming to You first – for the big things and the little things. Holy Spirit, I sincerely ask You to teach, guide, counsel and help me to Pray First, Pray Now, Pray Bold and Pray Through.
Jesus, hear my prayer ..... (conclude this prayer by taking whatever time you need to personally pray what is on your heart right now .... Prayers of praise or petition or thanks giving or .... just enjoy praying first, praying now, praying bold, praying through...)
Amen
