prepared by Rev Rosemary Mutopo – 19th October 2025
Call to Worship
Come, all who are weary and searching for rest.
We come to find our peace in God’s presence.
Come, all who are joyful and thankful.
We come to praise the God who gives us life and hope.
Come, all who are broken and longing for healing.
We come to the One whose love makes all things new.
Wherever we are, whatever we bring,
God meets us here. Let us worship God together with hearts open and lives ready to be renewed.
STF 25: God is here! As we his people
Opening Prayers
God of justice and mercy, we come before you with thankful hearts. You are faithful in all your ways,
steadfast in love, patient in grace, and attentive to the cries of your people. We adore you, Lord, for your kindness that never fails, for your promises that never fade, and for your presence that never leaves us. You invite us to pray and not lose heart, to trust that you are working for good even when we cannot see. You are our refuge and our hope, the One who hears us day and night.
Yet, Lord, we confess that we often grow weary. We lose patience when answers seem delayed, and we doubt your justice when life feels unfair. We confess the times we have given up too soon—the prayers we have left unspoken, and the faith we have allowed to fade. Forgive us, O God. Renew in us a spirit of perseverance and trust. Teach us again to wait upon you with hope, to seek your will with humility, and to rest in your steadfast love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who intercedes for us always, we pray. Amen.
Hear the good news: Our God is faithful and full of compassion. Even before we call, God hears us; while we are still speaking, God answers. In Christ Jesus, mercy triumphs over judgment, and grace is stronger than our doubt or weariness. So hear these words and trust them: In Christ, we are forgiven. We are renewed in faith and strengthened in hope. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Please read the Gospel reading: Luke 18:1-8, The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’ 6And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’
STF 528: Pray, without ceasing, pray,
1 Pray, without ceasing, pray,
your captain gives the word;
his summons cheerfully obey,
and call upon the Lord:
to God your every want
in instant prayer display;
pray always; pray, and never faint;
pray, without ceasing, pray!
2 In fellowship, alone,
to God with faith draw near,
approach his courts, besiege his throne
with all the powers of prayer:
go to his temple, go
nor from his altar move;
let every house his worship know,
and every heart his love.
3 Pour out your souls to God,
and bow them with your knees,
and spread your hearts and hands abroad,
and pray for Zion’s peace;
your guides and kindred bear
for ever on your mind;
extend the arms of mighty prayer,
and grasp all humankind.
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
Reflection
Today’s Gospel reading invites us to reflect on perseverance in faith and prayer—holding on to God even when the journey feels long and unbearable, the answers seem delayed, and the struggle feels uphill. During their prayer time, a little girl once asked her grandmother, “Why do we keep praying for the same thing every night? Doesn’t God already know what we need?” Her grandmother smiled and said, “Yes, but prayer isn’t about reminding God, it is about reminding ourselves to trust him.”
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples a parable about a widow who kept coming to an unjust judge, pleading for justice. She had no power, no money, and no influence. The judge didn’t care about God or about people—yet the widow refused to give up. Because she was so persistent, the judge finally granted her justice, simply to stop her from bothering him. Jesus then says, if even an unjust judge can eventually respond to persistence, how much more will God—who is loving and just—listen to his people who cry out to him day and night? In Jesus’ time, widows were among the most vulnerable people in society. They often had no one to protect them and were easily ignored by the legal system. By making the widow the heroine of the story, Jesus reminds us that even those who seem powerless in the world have great power before God through faith and through persistent prayer.
The unjust judge represents a world that often ignores truth and compassion. The widow, on the other hand, shows us the strength of faith that refuses to give up. This parable is not about pestering God, it is about trusting him, even when he seems silent. Jesus understands how hard it can be to keep faith amid life’s realities. We pray for justice, but injustice continues. We pray for healing, yet suffering remains. We pray for peace, but the world stays restless. It can be painful to reconcile the promises of God’s love and justice with the reality we see around us. We ask, “Where is God?” when the good suffer and the powerful seem to thrive.
Think of people like the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Father Stanislaus Lourduswamy, who worked tirelessly for justice, compassion and human rights for the segregated community but died in prison, still waiting for a fair hearing. His story reminds us that God’s justice often seems slow but faith means holding on, believing that God’s timing and God’s ways are higher than ours. And think, too, of Meriam Ibrahim, the young Sudanese woman who was imprisoned for her faith and even gave birth in chains. Though threatened and pressured to renounce her belief in Christ, she refused. Meriam said that she stood firm on behalf of the women of Sudan and all persecuted Christians around the world. Her courage, like the widow’s, reminds us that faith can endure even in the darkest places.
Jesus ends the parable with a searching question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” That is the real challenge. Faith is not proven when our prayers are quickly answered. Faith is proven when we keep praying, keep trusting, and keep working for good even when nothing seems to change. Prayer is not about getting everything we ask for, it is about staying connected with God, bringing our hearts before him, and trusting that he is still at work even when we cannot see it.
So, let us be people who lift one another up in prayer, who stay rooted in God’s Word, and who never lose heart. Even when God seems slow, his love never fails. And when Christ returns, may he find in us a people who are faithful, prayerful, and steadfast in hope. May the Lord help us to pray and not lose heart. Amen.
Prayers of intercession
Let us come before God in prayer, trusting in his mercy, and praying without losing heart. Let us pray. Faithful God, you call us to pray and not give up, to trust that your love is working even when we cannot see. Strengthen our faith and fill us with hope. Teach us to persevere in prayer, and to keep our eyes fixed on you. Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
God of justice and compassion, we pray for those who long for fairness and truth in a world of inequality. We remember those who suffer for their beliefs, and all who are persecuted for their faith. Grant them courage, protection, and peace. May their steadfastness inspire us to stand firm in your truth and love. Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
God of comfort and healing, we lift before you those who are weary, ill, or in pain, in body, mind, or spirit. Be near to those who feel forgotten or alone, and especially bless all who are housebound or unable to be with us in person. May they know the warmth of your presence and the love of your people. Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
God of peace, we pray for your world, for nations in conflict, for leaders seeking wisdom, and for communities torn by fear or violence. Bring reconciliation where there is division, and hope where there is despair. Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.
God of love, we remember before you those who have gone before us in faith, who persevered to the end and now rest in your eternal peace. Grant that we, too, may remain faithful until the day we see you face to face.Lord, inyourmercy: Hear our prayer.
Silence is kept for some personal prayers…
Faithful God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and to give more than we can desire or deserve. Keep us steadfast in faith, joyful in hope, and constant in love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer, ‘Our Father…’
STF 503: Love divine, all loves excelling,
1 Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesu, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.
2 Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.
3 Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation,
perfectly restored in thee:
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise!
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
Blessing
May the God who hears every prayer fill you with peace and perseverance.
May Christ walk beside you and uphold you with His love.
And may the Holy Spirit give you courage to live with hope, to pray without ceasing, and to trust that God’s justice and mercy will prevail. And the blessing of God Almighty the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
