Persistence in Prayer

Jun 5, 2010

Below is a prayer drawing I have been using for a couple of weeks. As new prayer concerns came to mind and heart, I added doodles. The act of drawing focuses my prayers and my wandering mind. Every time I look at it, the resulting picture reminds me to pray.

Sometimes when I pray I think I’m being rude to pray over and over again for the same person or about the same issue. When I was a kid, my parents taught me that begging, nagging, and asking for something more than once was impolite.

But there is Biblical precedence for nagging in prayer:

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.’ “ (Luke 18: 1-5 NRSV)

Luke encourages my nagging…or as my friend Claire calls it: “passionate begging.” I think I’ll just call it persistence; it sounds a little more polite.
Drawing: Sybil MacBeth 2010

3 Comments

  1. Sybil, I just recently came across your book on someone’s shelf in Shelfari. It seems like a very creative concept and useful for individuals who are not very ept at speaking. I’m going to look into purchasing the kid’s edition and try to incorporate it into my Sunday School classes.

    Reply
  2. Sybil, thanks for continuing your blog on your web site! I just found it through my google reader. (I missed reading it on the Purpose Driven site) Thanks again for your blog, enjoy your posts!

    Reply
    • It’s good to see your name again, Robbie. Thanks for tracking me down! Please pass the blog site on to anyone who you think might be interested. Peace to you.
      Sybil

      Reply

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