Persevering in Prayer

This is the English-translated outline of the sermon preached by Rev. Musubi Tabuchi to the congregations of Ashiya Christian Church and Unfinished Community on Sunday, October 19, 2025, drawing from Luke 18:1-8.

Though not often used positively in Japanese, today's Scripture seems to encourage persistence, tenacity, and refusal to give up. It tells of a widow who relentlessly pursued her case before a judge who normally didn't care about people, ultimately winning a just verdict from him. But how do we really approach this idea that we should always insist on getting our way, always persevere?

Recently, I was invited to speak at a worship service on Yojima Island in Shodoshima. It was held at a campground established by the Kobe YMCA 75 years ago, which they had been leasing from the landowner all this time. However, that landowner recently sold the island to someone else, and the new buyer apparently put it up for sale again. I hesitate to go into too much detail, but the new asking price is reportedly 480 million yen. The staff who have worked at this campground for so long invited me to speak at a Sunday worship service as part of a program to discuss how they might possibly “reclaim” the island.

Sadly, it's not as simple as saying, “Let's raise 500 million yen and make it happen.” The staff don't have that kind of money, and really...how would we raise that kind of money? What they want to convey is simply the wonderful nature of this campground and the immense significance of the programs for the children who participate there. Can these staff members truly “reclaim” this island? What would that even look like?

At that worship service, I spoke about Moses leading the Exodus. How could Moses, just a poor, humble shepherd, possibly stand up to Pharaoh, the absolute ruler of Egypt, the greatest worldly empire at the time? It seemed impossible from the start, and only natural that he would want to give up. I asked this staff, "Do you believe in that story of Moses? Do you believe God made it happen?" The truth is, if you don't believe, then such a project can never be realized. It's just a question about when we choose to give up. This one widow in today's story, however, did not give up. She kept pleading without losing heart. She persisted; tenaciously, relentlessly. And Jesus shows us that this is the true posture of prayer.

How earnestly do we pray? Do we ever plead with God to the point of persistence? As long as we pray while harboring resignation — thinking, “It's probably impossible anyway” — that prayer will likely go unanswered. Moses endured forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Forty years of persistence; is that kind of prayer even possible? One of the Bible's most powerful messages comes from these words of Jesus: “What is impossible for man is possible for God.” Believing this, continuing to believe it; that is surely the starting line for our prayer. And just like the island staff of the YMCA, we too are praying now, as we continue to pray for the future of our church.

Let us pray,

God, teach us the true meaning of believing in You. As those who believe in You and pray, hear our prayers today. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen.