Opening Prayer: O gracious and holy Father, give us wisdom to
perceive You, intelligence to understand You, diligence to seek You, patience
to wait for You, eyes to behold You, a heart to meditate on You, and a life to
proclaim You, through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.
~Benedict of Nursia
Scripture: Luke 18:1-8
Journal: Where in your life does the reminder to always
pray and never lose heart hit home?
Where in your life are you tempted to lose heart these days? How does the story of the widow and the judge
speak to you?
Reflection:
The blessing of such persevering prayer is
unspeakable. There is nothing so heart-searching as the prayer of faith. It
teaches you to discover and confess, and to give up everything that hinders the
coming of the blessing, everything there may not be in accordance with the
Father's will. It leads to closer fellowship with Him who alone can teach us to
pray, to a more entire surrender to draw near under no covering but that of the
blood and the Spirit. It calls for a closer and more simple abiding in Christ
alone. Christian, give God time. He will perfect that which concerns you. Let
it be thus whether you pray for yourself or for others. All labor, bodily or
mental, needs time and effort: we must give up ourselves up to it. Nature
discovers her secrets and yields her treasures only to diligent and thoughtful
labor. However little we can understand it, in the spiritual farming it is the
same: the seed we sow in the soil of heaven, the efforts we put forth, and the
influence we seek to exert in the world above, need our whole being: we must
give ourselves to prayer. But let us hold firm the great confidence that in due
season we will reap if we don't give up. (With Christ in the School of
Prayer by Andrew Murray)
Prayer
Closing Prayer:
Lord
Jesus, help us to always pray and never lose heart. Amen.
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