Persist in Praying 坚持不懈
Dexu Xia
They should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1
Mila, a baking assistant, felt too helpless to defend herself when her supervisor accused her of pilfering some raisin bread. The unfounded assertion and corresponding salary deduction were just two of many wrongful actions from her supervisor. “God, please help,” Mila prayed each day. “It’s so hard working under her, but I need this job.”
Jesus tells of a widow who also felt helpless and “sought justice against [her] adversary” (Luke 18:3). She turned to someone with the authority to resolve her case—a judge. Despite knowing that the judge was unjust, she persisted in approaching him.
The judge’s eventual response (vv. 4-5) is infinitely different from that of our heavenly Father, who quickly responds with love and help. If persistence could cause an unjust judge to take up a widow’s case, how much more can and will God, who is the just Judge, do for us (vv. 7-8)? We can trust Him “to bring about justice for his chosen ones” (v. 7) and being persistent in praying is one way of showing our trust. We persist because we have faith that God will respond in perfect wisdom to our situation.
Eventually, Mila’s supervisor resigned after other employees complained about her behavior. As we walk in obedience to God, let’s persist in praying, knowing the power of our prayers lies in the one who hears and helps us.
By: Karen Huang
When have you felt like giving up on praying? How can you reflect on God’s character as you pray?
Loving God, please remind me of who You are and help me to keep praying, no matter what.
耶稣设一个比喻，是要人常常祷告，不可灰心。—路加福音18章1节
丽芳是一名烘焙助理，她的主管指控她偷了一些葡萄干面包，令她感到十分无助，无法为自己辩护。这种毫无根据的控诉，以及扣减工资当作赔偿，只是她的主管许多不公平的行为中的两项。丽芳每天祷告：“上帝啊，请帮助我。在这位上司手下工作实在太辛苦了，但我需要这份工作。”
耶稣讲述有一位深感无助的寡妇，寻求公义为自己伸冤，惩办那与她作对的人（路加福音18章3节）。她求助于有权解决她问题的法官，即使深知那位法官并不公正，却依旧坚持不懈地去找他。
那位法官最终为寡妇伸冤了（4-5节），但他的态度与天父截然不同，天父会很快地以慈爱和帮助回应我们。若坚持不懈的态度能让一个不公正的法官审理这寡妇的案件，那么上帝这位公义的审判者岂不更乐意为你我成就更多的事吗？（7-8节）我们可以相信上帝“会为昼夜呼吁祂的选民伸冤”（7节，新译本），而坚持不懈地祷告是表明信靠上帝的一种方式，因我们相信，上帝会以完美的智慧回应我们的处境。
最终，在其他员工投诉这位主管行为失当之后，这位主管辞职了。让我们顺服上帝的旨意而行，坚持不懈地祷告，明白祷告的力量是在于那聆听并帮助我们的上帝。
作者： 黃嘉仁
你曾在何时想放弃了祷告？为什么？
你要如何在祷告时，反思上帝的特质？
慈爱的上帝，请提醒我祢是看顾人的上帝，无论面对的情况如何，求祢帮助我能坚持不懈地祷告