Reflections for Youth - Prayer and Hopeful Persistance
This week our Gospel passage from Luke is about prayer and persistence. If you have ever spent time with kids or dogs, you know a little something about what it's like to deal with someone or something that just doesn't give up.
Persistence is "firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition," according to the dictionary. The dictionary should just put a picture of my dog with her rock and her ball next to the entry. You probably can relate if you have ever trained (or been trained by) a puppy. There is nothing in this world that my dog, Weezie, loves more than her ball and a certain rock she found in the yard a while ago. One of them has to go with her everywhere. She loves to play with them. She loves to get you to try to play with them. And when she loses one under a piece of furniture she is relentless about letting you know where they are and that she is waiting for you to help her. She doesn't give up.
Jesus uses a story about a woman who doesn't give up to teach us some things about prayer and dealing with injustice.
The parable is about a widow who has been treated unfairly. The scripture doesn't say exactly what or who caused the injustice, but the woman goes to the judge in her city for help. The judge is known throughout the whole city as a person who doesn't care about people and has no use for God.
You can see where this is going, right?
The judge tells the woman to go away. Don't bother me, I don't care.
But Jesus tells us that the woman didn't give up and came back day after day after day after day.
"Give me Justice," she would say.“Don’t bother me, ” The judge would say. ”
But then one day the Judge decided he was tired of it all. And he decided to grant the woman justice so she would stop bothering him.
The scripture says Jesus tells this parable to his followers to emphasize the "need to pray always and not lose heart."
Be persistent, he seems to be saying. He is reminding us that by praying often we will be more receptive and feel more connected to God when something changes, something new happens, and when there is injustice in the world.
You can see where this is going, right?
The judge tells the woman to go away. Don't bother me, I don't care.
But Jesus tells us that the woman didn't give up and came back day after day after day after day.
"Give me Justice," she would say.“Don’t bother me, ” The judge would say. ”
But then one day the Judge decided he was tired of it all. And he decided to grant the woman justice so she would stop bothering him.
The scripture says Jesus tells this parable to his followers to emphasize the "need to pray always and not lose heart."
Be persistent, he seems to be saying. He is reminding us that by praying often we will be more receptive and feel more connected to God when something changes, something new happens, and when there is injustice in the world.
Soooo, is Jesus telling us that if we keep asking for what we want and never give up then we will get it?
I doubt it.
I do think there is a difference between praying to God and the story that Jesus told. The judge in the story doesn't care about anything, He also doesn't care about God. But God cares very much about the disciples - and all of us. So unlike the judge, God wants to hear from us.
God cares if our rock or our ball is stuck under the couch.
I think prayer is just as much for us as it is for God. If we keep checking in with God about what is going on for us in our lives then we will be better able to sort things out. We will be better able to see and recognize the ways that God is working in our daily lives and in the world. And when this happens, we will also be better able to share God’s wisdom and care with the people around us.
God cares if our rock or our ball is stuck under the couch.
I think prayer is just as much for us as it is for God. If we keep checking in with God about what is going on for us in our lives then we will be better able to sort things out. We will be better able to see and recognize the ways that God is working in our daily lives and in the world. And when this happens, we will also be better able to share God’s wisdom and care with the people around us.
I do think Jesus is using this parable to remind us that we need to be persistent in prayer and not give up on finding ways to feel connected to God and others. It might be a cliche to say that prayer is powerful. But here's the thing - it makes me feel better. Being persistent in prayer helps me keep my heart and mind pointed in God's direction and give me hope. And God has yet to tell me to stop bothering her.
Also, Jesus says through this story that God is calling us to persist in our prayers for those in need, even to the point of embarrassing the authorities in order to induce change. Our prayers are important to God. Working to right injustices is important to God. God calls us to (like the hymn says) "Live into Hope." Feeling hope and connected to God can give us a reason to work, in whatever ways we can, for justice and peace in the world.
What do you think?
Here are some questions to think about this week:
- The scripture tells us that Jesus used this story to teach about prayer, yet nobody in this story is praying. How do you think this story teaches about prayer?
- What do you learn about fighting injustice from this story?
- What are other examples of injustice that you could both pray for and act upon in your school? Community? The world?
Comments
Post a Comment