Pray Always

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Luke 18:1-8 

When I was a a small child there was a framed  cross stitch picture which included a small child kneeling and the word to "now I lay me down to sleep". There was also a second panel that completed the prayer. " Now I wake to see the light that God has kept me through the night. Now I lift my voice to pray that he will keep me through the day." A simple prayer recited over and over as I struggled to go to bed or face the new day. That simple gift began a life of prayer at the edges of the day and all during the day also.

Jesus tells his disciples about the nature of God through a parable, a story that everyone can relate to. The widow bugs the  corrupt judge until he grant her what she desires. God is not likened to a corrupt judge here on earth, but is a compassionate and swift judge in comparison. our job is simple to offer our needs and trust that prayer will bring the justice and the answers that are needed. God would have us keep praying in spite of the world, and in spite of the circumstances we see.

Today I ask God to help me bring everything in prayer. May our worries and anxieties be fodder for our prayer life and may we never give up on asking as God is never giving up on loving us and restoring life justice and love to the world.