Prayer. How We Cling to Christ
Friday’s Verse:
From Luke 18:1 ESV
“And (Jesus) told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
This weekend, our Gospel reading is taken from Luke 18:1-8. To continue on our theme this week on prayer, let’s reflect upon the opening line of our Gospel reading.
Jesus is not one to give us a command without being aware of the temptation to do the opposite. It’s in our nature to become discouraged and to give up praying.
We lose heart when our prayers seem to go unanswered. We grow weary when healing doesn’t come, when the conflict lingers, when the world weighs on our shoulders, and God is silent in the storm. Jesus is not unaware of any of this. He tells us just the opposite. Don’t stop praying.
The parable in the next verse, about the persistent widow and the unjust judge, is not there to compare the God of the universe to an embittered man sitting on a bench. It’s there to draw a contrast: if even an unjust judge will bend to someone’s persistence, how much more will our gracious and loving Father hear His children? To pray is to trust in God’s faithfulness. It is not to demand results on our schedule.
Luther once said, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” Prayer is not an afterthought or something we can do if our plans fail. Prayer is how faith breathes. It’s how we cling to Christ when the weight of the world drags us down.
Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
Heavenly Father, remind me and all believers of the importance of prayer. Help us all to never lose heart, especially in our persistence in laying our concerns at Your feet. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.