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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Constant prayer required unwavering
faith. The content of the prayer petition reflected the quality of the faith. If
the content was self-serving, the petitioner would place him/herself above God
and treat the divine as a servant gift-giver. If God answered "Wait," would the
selfish petitioner have the strength of faith to persist in prayer? This was
Jesus' concern. [18:8b]</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><A
href="http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/c/29-c/A-29-c.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/c/29-c/A-29-c.html</FONT></A></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Larry Broding </FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Jesus is trying to encourage His
disciples to see beyond the short-term failures and lack of response from God.
If, in the end, even the unjust judge caves in and gives justice - how much more
can we trust that the God of Justice will see justice done for us.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.wellsprings.org.uk/weekly_wellsprings/year_c/sunday_29.htm">http://www.wellsprings.org.uk/weekly_wellsprings/year_c/sunday_29.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn
Turner</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>We ourselves are the
unjust judge who neither fear God or respect people. We are dominated by our
egos and generally looking for what is in it for us. We are really stubborn in
our self seeking. But God is persistent in love for us. God is the hound of
heaven who wears us down, like the widow, by persistently pursuing us.
Eventually, we wield and let God enter our lives and guide us to do the right
thing. In this interpretation we see God as persistent in trying to break down
our defenses. We see prayer as allowing this pursuing God to enter our lives and
challenge us to change our self destructive behavior. </FONT></DIV></FONT>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.bibleclaret.org/liturgy/daily/sundays_pierse/cycleC/C_29thSunOT.htm">http://www.bibleclaret.org/liturgy/daily/sundays_pierse/cycleC/C_29thSunOT.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Gerry Pierse</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV><FONT
size=4><FONT face=TimesNewRoman>
<DIV align=left>The word about prayer is not that God, like the judge, can
be</DIV>
<DIV align=left>manipulated and that, therefore, one should pray day and night.
This is not a prescriptive word, or</DIV>
<DIV align=left>even good advice. Rather, it is a descriptive statement about
God and prayer. The good of prayer</DIV>
<DIV align=left>is not dependent upon the outcome. Prayer does not necessarily
change things, but one continues</DIV>
<DIV align=left>to pray and in the act of prayer itself something is given to
the one who prays. Prayer itself is</DIV>
<DIV>vindicated.</DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www2.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/6-4_Romans/6-4_Kreider.pdf">http://www2.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/6-4_Romans/6-4_Kreider.pdf</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Eugene C. Kreider,
1986</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>A word of caution about the first
little story: let's not batter so much on God's door that we don't hear God's
gentle knocking on our own! The Orthodox insistence on the life of inner prayer
is a useful counter to any let's bash God's door down approach we may be tempted
to take, or encourage others to!</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/laterallyluke/LLK18114PENT20.html">http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/laterallyluke/LLK18114PENT20.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Brian McGowan</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>We see immediately that the Jesus
is saying: be persistent but know that God is going to care for you far more
than the unjust judge.<BR><BR>Are you really wrestling with God? Are we engaging
in prayer with God which is like fisticuffs? I mean we are encouraged by Jesus
to have a relationship with God that is like this woman’s with the judge. We
must like Jacob wrestle in the desert. <BR><BR></FONT><A
href="http://hitchhikersguidetoluke.blogspot.com/2010/10/proper-24-ordinary-time-year-c_15.html"><FONT
size=4>http://hitchhikersguidetoluke.blogspot.com/2010/10/proper-24-ordinary-time-year-c_15.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Andy Doyle, 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Prayer is a continual and
convenient conversation with God. At times it can seem as an inconvenient
nagging voice, practice, or routine, yet it confirms our own sense of self-worth
in the world as God’s beloved children. It reminds us that we are loved for who
we are or where we are on life’s journey—because we matter and we are worthy of
God’s closeness. </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">
<P>Prayer is accepting our own self and the reassuring yet indescribable sense
of God’s presence in the most unexpected ways of God within. It is God living
through us and those around us that allows us to be who we are called to be,
regardless of society’s expectations.</P>
<P>“Prayer ,” Luis Ferndando Garcia-Viana writes, “does not remove us from the
world but rather it directs us toward it to transform it according to the
criteria and values of the kin-dom* proclaimed by Jesus” (<EM>Comentario al
Nuevo Testamento</EM>).</P>
<P>Prayer is a tool to get us through and throughout the seemingly endless days
of lack of recognition or rewarding work, through life’s efforts and stresses.
It is for those in our midst with well-intended wishes and facing
life-threatening realities.</P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/october-17-2010.html">http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/october-17-2010.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>Lizette Merchán
Pinilla</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
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