Pray Always

Luke 18:1 

Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged.

I grew up in West Tennessee, a robust agricultural region. Although my family didn’t farm, both of my grandfathers cultivated sizeable gardens, and farming surrounded us. I learned some basic facts of life early in such a setting. For instance, if you want a crop in the fall, you need to plant in the spring. I also learned that you can’t hurry crops. They need whatever time they need. Thus, I learned patience.

Modern people have such different lives than did the people of Jesus’s time, but human nature hasn’t changed. We want what we want, and we want it now. So did they. If we think about it, it’s obvious that God is not just a souped-up commerce platform from which we order things and expect God to deliver it, and soon. Yet, we can easily fall prey to what amounts to the same thing.

Jesus told his listeners the parable of the unjust judge, who didn’t care about a widow who had been wronged, but he gave her justice because she kept on asking. If even an unjust judge will eventually respond, how much more will God, who loves us and wants justice for us, respond to us? So Jesus encourages us to be both consistent and persistent in prayer, and not to grow weary in prayer. Our timing is not God’s. Just as our impatience will not speed the crops along, so God answers our prayers when the time is right.

Some say that prayer doesn’t change God, who knows what we need better than we ourselves. Prayer changes us. When we pray with consistency and persistence, it opens us more to the answers when they come.

Let us pray: Father, help us trust your timing. Help us remember you are not a vending machine, but a loving Father who desires only good for us. Thank you for the privilege of prayer. Use our prayers to mold us as you would have us to be. Amen.

Today’s devotional was written and read by Donn King.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.