Psalm 17

A prayer of David.

Psalm 28

Of David.

³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,^(A) and in sackcloth and ashes.^(B)

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.^{(A) 2} He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice^(B) against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”^(C)

⁶ And the Lord^(D) said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out^(E) to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.^{(A) 30} Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders^(B) through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”^(C)

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.^(D) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit^(E) and spoke the word of God^(F) boldly.^(G)

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.^(A) Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.^(B)