PRAYER AND PERSEVERANCE

Prayer unaccompanied by perseverance leads to no result. ~John Calvin

I love watching HGTV and particularly House Hunters. I really love watching the first home buyers that have a really long list of what they want with high expectations. It’s usually the same list of wants: open concept, sought after neighborhood, move in ready, luxury finishes, and all the amenities. Reality at some point settles in when they begin looking for homes that are within their budget. You can see their dreams of move in ready and luxury finishes dwindling to a series of compromises. We often watch and laugh because we remember our own eye-widening experience when we looked for our first home and our wish list might require some work on our part to make happen.

Prayer is one of those things that we often have a working relationship with. It isn’t a giant wish list of what we want in this world, but is intended to be a conversation with God about our hopes, dreams, concerns, doubts, and all the things that on our hearts and minds. Prayers are meant to be shared in private and in gatherings, in times of distress and in times of wow and gratitude. The theology shared by Calvin today carries an extra weight of our responsibility in the prayer to keep going. It isn’t as simple as just offering our thoughts and words, but through prayer we also have to take steps to persevere. In other words, we can’t say some words and then wait for God to do all the work. God calls us to participate and through action is often where we find God inspiring, stirring, and moving. Where is God calling you to persevere in your own life?

Prayer

God of hope, we come to you in prayer and are grateful that you always listen. Through prayer you hear our thoughts, concerns, and hopes. Through the power of prayer, we know that you are listening and calling us to keep moving forward on the path that you have for each of us. In gratitude, Amen.