I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

To Pray, and Not to Lose Heart--Nov. 23, 2018

[From Nov. 21, 2014 archive]

Holy God, teach me to pray to you always 
and not to lose heart. 
When I think you have cast me off, 
when it seems you hide your face from me, 
teach me to be patient, 
like a farmer waiting for the rains 
to make a crop. 
Lord, teach me to return to you, 
and that you will return to me. 

Lectionary Readings 
Ps. 88; 148; 6; 20
Mal. 3:1-12
James 5:7-12
Luke 18:1-8

Selected Verses 
Ps. 88:14 
O LORD, why do you cast me off?
          Why do you hide your face from me? 

Mal. 3:7b 
Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, "How shall we return?" 

James 5:7 
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.  The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 

Luke 18:1 
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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