Jeremiah 31:27-34 Psalm 119:97-104 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Luke 18:1-8

There is an old story of a girl watching a holy man pray by the riverbank.  Approaching the holy man, the girl asks that he teach her to pray.  In response, the holy man leads the girl into the river and instructs her to hold her face close to the water.  There the holy man pushes her face under the water until she struggles to be free.

Gasping for air, the girl asks, “Why did you do that?”

“This is your lesson,” responds the holy man, “When you long to pray as much as you long to breathe, then you can learn to pray.”

Prayer is the breath we breathe.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus is seeking to foster this kind of perseverance and persistence in his disciples.  He is urgently preparing them for a time when he is no longer present with them on earth.  Jesus continues to emphasize to his disciples that their lives of mission and ministry going forward will require persistence in faith.  And, to accomplish this persistence in faith, they will need to be persistent in prayer.

The power of prayer is a mysterious question throughout our lives.  Does God really answer our prayers?  Do we change God with our prayers, or does God change us?  Does prayer bring about miracles?

Prayer may not make all things right in our estimation on our terms, but I do know that without prayer, things seem to go very wrong.  So, when you’re feeling anxious and grumpy and there seem to be obstacles at every turn, do a prayer check.  Being persistent in prayer sometimes requires praying that we might be persistent in prayer.

We can compare our need for persistent prayer, persistent thanksgiving, and persistent worship with the metaphor of the log pulled from the flaming camp fire.  Pulled from the fire, the log remains, for a while, encrusted with blazing embers.  Yet, with the passing moments, the log pulled off to itself slowly but steadily loses its glow.  Alone, disconnected from its source, it grows cold and dies in the dirt.  Lacking persistence in prayer, our lives grow cold and misdirected. Maybe we could compare it to stepping out into the rain without giving thought to donning a raincoat.

It is through persistent prayer that we best determine God’s will for our lives, that we best determine God’s answer for our prayers.  Little by little, bit by bit, little epiphanies, little answers to big questions.  Sometimes God says “yes;” sometimes God says “not now;” usually God says, “I have a better idea.” Through persistent prayer we see that better idea more clearly, being vehemently thankful for God’s guidance above our own.  Always, God says, “I will not leave your comfortless, I am with you through this storm.”  The odd thing is that it is only through persistent prayer that we begin to understand the inexplicable power of prayer.

Persistence in prayer allows us to be calm amidst chaos and conflict.  Persistence in prayer allows us to be at peace with our earthly mortality and that of our loved ones – at peace even when each new day brings increasing difficulty and, it seems, that God is silent.  Even then, we just keep praying, sharing conversation with our dearest friend and companion, Jesus Christ.

Finally, in our Old Testament lesson from the prophet Jeremiah, we read of Israel’s redemption and renewal.  In exile, the remnant of Israel remained faithful and persistent.  That persistence of the remnant is manifested in the renewed covenant.  Israel will return to her homeland and again be recognized as the people of God.

It is through persistent prayer that we see more clearly the injustice in our world and in our own hearts.  We pray to be persistent and constant in prayer to act accordingly in the face of injustice.  We pray that we will come to be totally aware of our dependence on prayer as we are dependence upon the breath we breathe.

Jesus, instructing the disciples how to pray, begins by encouraging them to pray that their earthly existence will be equivalent to that in heaven.  Jesus instructs the disciples and us to pray that on earth as it is in heaven, God’s name will be hallowed; God’s kingdom will come; and God’s will will be done.

Whether it is on a crowded fast-flowing highway or a comfy chair in a quiet meditative spot in our den, Jesus exhorts us to focus our prayers with intention, to make our prayers the breath we breathe – to pray without ceasing that our earthly sense of separation from heaven will become thinner and thinner as we are united with Christ.

Think of our war weary world and our bitterly divided country.  Imagine hundreds of millions of prayerful people of God, praying that God’s kingdom will reign here as it does in heaven.  Imagine the hundreds of millions of hearts that would be changed by persistent prayer.  Imagine the power of every American praying – truly praying – for the compassion and ability to love and listen to his neighbor with open heart, unclenched fist, and lowered voice; and that our neighbors will open their hearts to us in return, rather than shouting down the conversation and further dividing us.

God has known each of us from the time we were formed in our mother’s womb.  We are in his midst and he has called us by name.  God wants only what is best for us.  Keep open that conversation with the one who loves you beyond imagination; don’t stop, even if confronted by the temptation to lose hope; don’t stop, no matter what.  There you will find strength for the journey, even though it may take you far from the path you expected; there you will find rest in God’s unconditional love; there you will find your clear call to the mission of God’s kingdom.  Just keep the conversation flowing, keep knocking at God’s door until you feel it open wide.