Persevering Prayer

# 253 Today’s Living Word comes from Mark 2:1-4 “And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.”

The first words that come to my mind to describe what takes place here are “persistent effort.” The crowd that gathered to hear Jesus talk, was so thick that no one could possibly get near the door. The four men with the paralytic could’ve given up and gone home and tried some other time, but instead they hoist the paralytic and the bed up to the roof, remove the tiles, and lower him to Jesus.

Just stop and consider the effort involved in this. Put yourself in the sandals of one of these four stretcher bearers and consider the bulkiness of the stretcher, the incline and height of the roof, the gear necessary to raise and lower the stretcher. This was planned, persevering effort on their part on behalf of a paralyzed friend, a loved one.

Know any people in need of a touch from Jesus?

Then beloved, stop and consider your own prayer life. What kind of things are you allowing to “crowd out” your time with Jesus? How much planned, persevering, effort do you put in when it comes to bringing others to His feet?

The actions of these men illustrate a principle that Jesus wants us all to learn; “men always ought to pray and not lose heart, (Luke 18:1)

I’m Duane Matz and that’s today’s Living Word.