19 October: Trinity 18, Luke 18.1-8
Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’6And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’
Things to think about with the child at the centre:
Activities
Us PUSH – pray until something happens – to make some artwork to display around the church – there is an example here
Response
I wonder how the old widow in the story felt when she had to keep coming back?
I wonder if you have things you’ve been asking God about for a long time?
I wonder how it feels to think of God as generous and loving instead of stingy and mean?
Prayer
We’ve used the letters PUSH for Pray Until Something Happens, and now we’ll use them in our prayers:
Please – spend a moment thinking about the specific thing that you are asking God to change
Unwavering – the widow kept asking, so make a commitment to keep praying about this thing until God responds
Submissive – sometimes we think God hasn’t answered when we just don’t like the answer! We need to remember that God is God, and has a bigger perspective than us. Be prepared to accept God’s response
Hope – BUT – stay hopeful, remember Jesus’ words that God loves us and wants the best for us, so be hopeful that God will honour our prayers.
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