Pray Persistently...Just Don't Wake My Kids, Please! - October 24
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 30, 32; PM Psalm 42, 43; Rev. 10:1-11; Luke 11:1-13
Part of a vignette Jesus offers his disciples in the excerpt from Luke 11 rubs me the wrong way. The disciples ask their leader to teach them to pray, as John the Baptist instructed his own followers. Jesus teaches them the words to say – what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. He doesn’t leave it there. He proposes a scenario in which one of them appeals to a friend in the middle of the night for bread for a visitor who has just arrived. In the parallel put forth, the inhabitant of the house says, “Do not bother me, the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.” In spite of the inclination to decline the midnight pleas, Jesus implores his listeners to be persistent, for it is in persistence that their appeals – for bread or in prayer – will be answered.
It’s not that I have an issue with answered prayers. I feel pushback because I, too, would avoid answering the door in the middle of the night – especially if my kids were asleep. As a parent of young children, waking my children is highly disruptive. I limit my movements to avoid putting their sleeping status in peril! And yet, if I think about it, I guess would get up to answer and help a friend in dire need…if only to stop the banging on the door.
Jesus’ call to persistent prayer will help his disciples stay focused on the core of their work: the Lord God. Jesus’ call to persistent prayer will help us as followers of The Way. Find spaces in your day to lift your whole self to God in prayer. Perhaps use this iteration, that is based upon the words Jesus offered to his friends in Luke:
“O Lord, you are supreme – even saying your name connects me to the Holy.
May this place I live grow to resemble your Kingdom.
Please nourish me and all who hunger today – with our fill of food and grace – so that we may live for one more day.
Forgive me as I sin today. I return my whole self to you right now.
Help me to believe that I am worthy of your love and forgiveness, and help me to be loving and forgiving of others.
Keep me safe and aware of you in the hard moments of today.”
Friends, be persistent in your prayer. Jesus gives three action words to his disciples: ask; search; and knock. Notice that he employs our voices, eyes, and hands in prayer. Be attentive to how you use your voice in speaking or singing prayers and praises to God. Be aware of where you fix your eyes when you pray. What are your hands doing when you pray?
Jesus reminded his friends that living a life faithful to God required some structure of prayer life, persistence, and the use of multiple senses. Join me along the journey!
-- Katherine+
Questions for Reflection
What are the prayers you bring to God regularly?
What practices help you open yourself to God? Listen for God?
Daily Challenge
Take a look at the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11. What words or phrases have deep meaning for you today? Write those words down on a piece of paper. Take a few minutes and attempt to re-write the Lord’s Prayer (in a way similar to the reflection), making sure you include those phrases that resonate deeply with you. Sit in silence for one minute and then pray your prayer to God.