Butterfly Prayers

Reading: Luke 18; Psalm 53 1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who was a godless man with great contempt for everyone. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, appealing for justice against someone who had harmed her. 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she wore him out. ‘I fear neither God nor man,’ he said to himself, 5 ‘but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ” 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this evil judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end, so don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?” (Luke 18:1-8 NLT) Jesus told them a story. An unnamed judge in an unnamed town didn’t care about anyone or anything but himself. But an unnamed widow was so desperate and determined in her quest for justice that he helped her, granted her request, just to get her off his back. One point of Jesus’ story is that God is a just judge and loving father, and if we consistently seek his help with half the persistence of the widow in this story, he will quickly and graciously respond. Another point is that when we want something, we give up way too easy!
• I thought about the widow. Her life was pretty simple. She needed help and was relentless in her pursuit of justice.
• I thought about me. A lot of the time, I’ve got so many things going on that I often flit from one prayer to another like a butterfly in a field of daisies! I pray about something and then I’m off to something else, praying about that, and off again! I don’t follow through on half my prayers! In fact I pray some prayers once or twice and then don’t even bother to acknowledge when God answers! Prayer: Father, I’m sorry for praying so many butterfly prayers! You take such good care of me that I have very few things in my life that demand my entire attention like the widow’s need for justice. Thank you that you hear and answer my less-than-consistent prayers. I really do trust and rely on you! Amen.