Pray always. Do not lose heart. This is the encouragement of the Christ of the gospel today. Persistence in our every encounter with the divine will be blessed. Wrestle with the word. Remember your baptism again and again. Come regularly to Christ’s table. Persistence in our every encounter with the divine will be blessed.
Prayer of the Day
Eternal One, amid the turmoil and changes of the world, your love is steadfast and your strength never fails. In this time of challenge, bless us with a deep awareness of your presence, help us to find the song of your grace in our hearts, instill in us courage and hope to face the future, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 38
1O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger,
or discipline me in your wrath.
2For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4For my iniquities have gone over my head;
they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
5My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness;
6I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all day long I go around mourning.
7For my loins are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8I am utterly spent and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9O LORD, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
as for the light of my eyes — it also has gone from me.
11My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction,
and my neighbors stand far off.
12Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin,
and meditate treachery all day long.
13But I am like the deaf, I do not hear;
like the mute, who cannot speak.
14Truly, I am like one who does not hear,
and in whose mouth is no retort.
15But it is for you, O LORD, that I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me,
those who boast against me when my foot slips.”
17For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
19Those who are my foes without cause are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20Those who render me evil for good
are my adversaries because I follow after good.
21Do not forsake me, O LORD;
O my God, do not be far from me;
22Make haste to help me,
O LORD, my salvation.
2 Corinthians 4:8-12
8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. 11For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Luke 18:1-8
1Then Jesus told them 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?”
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