Pray Hopefully and Constantly! Central to our Anglican-Christian devotion is our practice of common worship. We believe that prayers are theologically and spiritually transformative. For our worship today, it might be appropriate to ask what belief is being shaped through the persistent prayers of the widow in Jesus’ parable.

What rule of belief is shaped by this parable about prayer? In praying like the persistent widow, we see that prayer is about both our relationship with God and our relationships with one another. In prayer, we expand our ability to believe in God’s just work in the world and our role as partners in that work.

Distilling the message of being faithful, Jesus seeks a way to teach his disciples: Do not give up! Do not lose hope! Perhaps Jesus, knowing the scope of God’s abundance says to himself, “Ah, here it is: a story about a stubborn judge and a woman who does not give up hope.”

How are you being invited to remain persistent in proclaiming the salvation you have received? In what ways has your participation in the prayers of the church shaped your own belief? How have those beliefs shaped your practice of prayer inside and outside the walls of the building?

Prayer: Almighty God,  who inspired Luke the physician to proclaim the love and healing power of your Son, give your Church, by the grace of the Spirit and the medicine of the gospel, the same love and power to heal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

(For All the Saints, The A.C.C.)