Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton
Week 8: Chapter 7 — Persistence
Read Chapter 7 of Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools. Primary passages: Luke 18:1–8; Genesis 32:22–32.
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Jesus told his disciples a parable about a persistent widow "to show them that they should always pray and not give up" — and Staton wrestles honestly with what that persistence looks like when the answer is slow in coming. These questions invite you to examine your own staying power.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Think of a prayer you have been praying for a long time — months, years, perhaps decades. What has that long waiting done to your faith? Has it deepened your trust, eroded it, or something more complicated than either?
2.Staton examines Jesus's parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18. The widow keeps coming back to an unjust judge who neither fears God nor cares about people — and her persistence eventually wins. Jesus says God is not like the unjust judge, but then inverts the logic: if even an unjust judge responds to persistence, how much more will a loving Father? What is the parable actually teaching about the nature of God? What is it teaching about the nature of prayer?
3.He engages Jacob's all-night wrestling match with God in Genesis 32 as a portrait of persistent prayer — Jacob refuses to let go until he receives a blessing. Staton points out that Jacob walked away both blessed and limping. What does it mean that genuine, persistent prayer often leaves a mark on us? Is that a warning or an invitation?
a.What has persistent prayer cost you emotionally or spiritually?
b.What has it produced in you that nothing else could have?
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