Pray With Purpose And Passion And Persisitence

Luke 18:6-8 - Then the Lord said, “If even an evil judge can be worn down like that, don’t you think that God will surely give justice to his people who plead with him day and night?  Yes! He will answer them quickly! But the question is: When I, the Messiah, return, how many will I find who have faith and are praying*?”

 

Jesus told many stories to help teach the people who came to hear Him the things they needed to have a strong relationship with God. This time he told a story about a persistent widow who kept asking a judge till she got what she needed.  He said that is the way we should pray to God for the things that we need.

 

Jesus could see the future and knew that many would fall away from the practice of prayer.  Their faith would weaken and they would become self-sufficient.  There prayers would become routine…or petty requests that increased self instead of helped others.  They would replace prayer with material things that satisfy only for a short time.

 

I admit that my prayer life is not a strong as it should be. I spend too much time relaxing in front of a TV or knitting or shopping. My prayers have some petitions for others…but they are mostly requests for myself. I rush through my prayers…or fall asleep before I finish. I simply don’t pray like I know I should…like Moses….or Jesus…or this widow model.

 

I needed the reminder that what  I need is the focus…the purpose of this widow.  I need to have her passion to keep praying for something until God gives me an answer. I need to write the requests of my friends down…so that satan can’t make me forget my promise to pray for them. I need to schedule a time in my day that is dedicated to prayer…just as waking minutes are dedicated to understanding and processing His word. I need to have the same passion for prayer as I have for writing.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that prayer is a key to my faith in you.  Forgive me for the many times I have failed you in my prayer life….and thank you for never stopping to try and teach me how to get it right.  Give me the passion of this widow to pray without ceasing…to pray with purpose….to pray no matter how tired or sleepy I am from my days work….to pray instead of filling my time with meaningless things like TV or shopping or knitting just to fill time. Amen.