Being persistent is an important part of our prayer life (Luke 18.1-8).
Context
The sports pages of any newspaper are always full of emotional extremes. On any given day joy and despair are present in the reporting. By nature, sport demands winners and losers, usually side-by-side on the same pitch/track/court. This week has been no different. The Euro 2020 qualifier played in Sofia, Bulgaria on Monday night saw England rejoicing with their 6-0 win, while Bulgaria felt some of the despair that comes with losing an international match. However, the win/lose, joy/despair narrative of most sports fixtures wasn’t quite as clear cut on this occasion as the score line would suggest. The match was played in difficult circumstances for the England squad; racist chants directed at the black players including defender Tyrone Mings on his England debut, almost stopped the match mid game. This particular win came among scenes of despair for the England players and coaches as they tried to work out how to respond to the situation unfolding around them.
Despite the win it’s a grim tale; however, one positive feature of this story is the way that newcomer Tyrone Mings channelled both despair and joy, and continued to do his job on the football field. Despite the hostile situation he persisted with the job in hand. The dictionary defines persistence as continuing firmly or obstinately in spite of difficulty, and this seems to be exactly what Mings did on the pitch in Sofia. But maybe this persistent behaviour was no real surprise. Mings has perseverance written into his back story: from a childhood partly spent in a homeless shelter, to a football career with considerable ups and downs, his story is one of determination, tenacity and true persistence.
Reflection
Like this week’s complex football match, life is often a muddle of joy and despair, with both emotions sometimes present in the same day or even the same situation. Navigating life’s ups and downs can be complex. The Gospel story of the persistent widow hints at some of the emotions of human existence. The widow’s despair at the situation she finds herself in is felt through her plea for justice and when eventually granted, we can imagine her joy. But like Mings, the widow’s tale is characterised by her persistent behaviour. At the heart of this short parable is a woman acting with determination and tenacity, despite the difficulties she faces. Her persistence is eventually rewarded and the parable closes by drawing the parallel to us, inviting similar perseverance in our petitions to God.
Perhaps for the widow and Tyrone Mings, persistence feels like a lesson hard learnt. But such determination and tenacity results in a person who can persevere, someone who will keep going in spite of difficulty. And maybe we all need a little of their perseverance and tenacity in our prayer lives, to keep going, persistently bringing our petitions to God.
Prayer
Write each letter of the word ‘PERSIST’ on an A4 piece of paper. Underneath the letter, write what each letter stands for as given in this acrostic:
P – people you know
E – environment
R – region you live in
S – (local) schools
I – international problems
S – self
T – this church
Place the letters around the worship space. Invite members of the congregation to wander around, stopping at each letter to pray, prompted/inspired by the accompanying phrase, for situations/people that require our persistent prayer. After an appropriate period of time, gather all of the letters together at the front to spell out PERSIST. End with a prayer:
Lord,
give us strength to persist,
strength to continue,
strength to keep going, even when it’s hard,
strength to persevere and trust in your promises.
Amen.
Questions
- How does the idea of persistent prayer make you feel?
- When have you needed to be persistent in your Christian walk?
- Can we learn to be more persistent?
All-age activity
Give everyone paper and a pen. Invite people to try and draw a freehand circle or a completely straight line. Encourage people to offer a friendly critique of each other’s work, and to keep trying until they manage either the circle or line – or both! Allow the activity to continue for a few minutes and then ‘show and tell’ a few of the best. Talk about the persistence required to draw circles and straight lines freehand.
Young people
You will need several packs of playing cards. Invite the young people to have a go at building a house of cards in small groups. (There are lots of examples and tips to be found on YouTube.) You may want to create a bit of competition by seeing which group can build the biggest/most successful house of cards. At the end of the activity, discuss the idea that persistence/perseverance is required for a large house of cards. Ask the group to think of other activities that require persistence and talk about how it feels to persevere with something. Finish by talking about persistence in prayer: how to keep on praying for something. Share your own stories of persistent prayer.
Fiona Dorman is Education Officer at Bristol Cathedral and a Freelance Education Consultant.
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