Skip to main content

November 2013 Prayer Column - Persistent Pestering

Persistent Pestering


At the launch of Walkers are Welcome in Baildon the other day, Colin Speakman reviewed 200 years of work for public access to the countryside, leading to our present footpath network (and who knows what next).  He commented that change rarely came but by pestering authority till they yielded for a bit of peace.
It’s like the point Jesus made about the need for persistence in prayer (Luke 18:1-8).  But if, as he said, the Father God to whom we pray is so much more willing to respond than selfish power groups, why then do we still need to persist or even pester?  Here are a few suggestions.
Problems in us: Asking for the wrong things, or for selfish reasons?  Could delay be the Father redirecting our thoughts?  Keep checking?
Problems out there: Resistance not from God but from other forces, which may take time to overcome  (e.g., Daniel 10:12-14).  Keep at it.
Problems beyond: God is sovereign: he knows best, and some reasons for his non-compliance may be beyond our finite ken.  Keep praising.
Problems in perception: Jesus didn’t fit expectations.  Paul wanted rid of his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:7-10).  And we may not be recognising how God is blessing Bradford North.  Keep looking.
Persistence in prayer might be likened to a long flight of steps, but I’m not sure whether we are toiling up for a grander view or descending humbly to the foot of the cross.
Roy Lorrain-Smith


A prayer for each week

Father God, you’ve told us to pray and I have been doing for ages.  Why aren’t you answering?  Will you show me if I should change the way I’m praying in some way, please.  Amen.

Father God, what I’m praying for seems so right, and you aren’t telling me to stop, or change, so please help me to persist until everything falls into place for your answer to come.  Amen.

Father God, Sovereign, seeing beyond all our grasp, I have prayed long for my heart’s desire, but now I trust that you know best about whether, or when, or how to answer.  Amen.

Father God, what are you doing in Bradford North?  You promise to respond when we pray, but I don’t see it.  Am I not looking right?  Please can you show me your answers.  Amen.

Your own prayers


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Message from the Link

D ISSUE 16 OCTOBER 2012 ear Friends How many times have you heard people say in your church ‘Well, I didn’t know about that!’  Quickly followed by, ‘Well, if you read the notices …’ Communication within churches can be wonderful, it can be a little frustrating and it can be never quite what we had hoped.  The same is true across the Circuit, and very soon we will be reviewing methods and means of communication.  Part of this review may include looking at ‘The Link’ and ‘Outlook’ in the light of our focus upon Mission.  For example, it may be that we move more towards what has happened and how it worked to encourage churches to think about the stories that they have to share, rather than being a notice sheet of things to come. Which leads me to ask, have we ever wondered about who it is we are trying to communicate to, and about what?  For example, there have been many adverts in ‘ The Link’ about coffee mornings and cake....

News from Allerton Methodist Church

Allerton’s Community Play & Learn Hub In October we were approached by the Bradford Community Play Partnership to ask if they could use the church premises for their Allerton & Lower Grange Community Learning Hub. They had been running this from Ladyhill Park since 1st April but needed somewhere more suitable for the winter months. Supporting local families and linking with 5 local primary schools, 7 volunteers, including 3 of our own congregation, are working together to provide ‘Bags of Creativity’ during the pandemic. The group have provided over 5,000 packs to children, signed up over 700 children to a Summer Reading Challenge, engaged with 1,500 children in the Light Project with a physical literacy music lesson in the car park, with pallet Christmas trees, a grotto, forest school activities including making Bird Cake and incorporating: Exercise Counting, Measuring, Weighing Investigating natural materials Growing Sunflowers Reading Music The Hub will continue until Februa...

The Spirit of the Christmas Truce of WW1 Relived

The Spirit of the Christmas Truce of WW1 Relived During the 1st World War on Christmas Day1914 an amazing thing happened. There was a truce just for that day. Germans and the British stopped fighting and started singing carols. They came out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy. Photographs of families were shown to each other, small gifts were exchanged. Then they played a game of FOOTBALL! Just for that day it was PLAY not WAR! In remembrance of those men, and, their hopes for the Peace to come: Football Match 1.30 pm - 4.00 pm Sunday 10 November 2013 Bradford's Centenary Square Reflections, Poetry and Music on the theme of peace and war 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm The Delius Centre, Great Horton Road Come and join us!