NOVEMBER 19, 2025 PORTALS OF PRAYER READINGS

 

Luke 18:1-8

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Psalm 102:1-12

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

102 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!
² Do not hide your face from me
    in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
    answer me speedily in the day when I call!

³ For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.
⁴ My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
    I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
    my bones cling to my flesh.
⁶ I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl^[a] of the waste places;
⁷ I lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
⁸ All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.
⁹ For I eat ashes like bread
    and mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰ because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
¹¹ My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
    you are remembered throughout all generations.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 102:6 The precise identity of these birds is uncertain

ESV® - The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Source for Bible text - www.biblegateway.com