Attention Deficit Disorder. ADD.

It would be hard to live in the United States and not be aware of ADD or its sibling, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. And for good reason. Estimates suggest that as much as 6 percent of the population suffers from it. That’s 16 million people—only 5 million less than the entire population of Texas. Of course, many are children.

Still defining ADD appears difficult. Most of the websites I looked at didn’t even offer a definition. They simply identified the symptoms that constitute a diagnosis of ADD:

All of these fall into what some call "inattention." If you have ADD, if you are the parent or grandparent of an ADD child, or you teach ADD children, you know what is meant by inattention. It is that inability to give sustained focus or effort to any particular activity.

I share this information with you because I wonder sometimes if those of us in the church don’t suffer from a narrower form of this disorder. I would call it PADD—Prayer Attention Deficit Disorder. It is the seeming inability to give sustained attention to any one thing in our prayers.

Don’t get me wrong. I know that many of you have very healthy prayer lives. But I also know that many of us have a hard time with prayer. It is not that we don’t desire to pray. It is not that we don’t know how to pray. It is that we have a hard time continuing to pray in the face of God’s seeming silence.

Her son had been something of a rebel since his teen years. He didn’t change when he finished high school. If anything he took his newfound freedom to distance himself even more from his family, reaching a place in which they were almost totally estranged.

Needless to say, his mother was grieved by what was happening. Finally she went to talk to her pastor. Through tears, she recounted the long history of trouble, the current difficulties, and the abundant fears she had for her son’s future.

"Do you pray for him?" the pastor asked.

"I use to," she said. "I use to, but it never seemed to do any good."

What she was admitting was that she could no longer give sustained attention to prayers for her son. The apparent silence of God kept her from praying for him.

She is not alone, is she?

How many of us have continued to pray for the families of those who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center or Pentagon?

How many of us have continued to pray for those who no longer come to worship because they are homebound or in nursing homes?

How many continue to pray each and every day for the renewal of First Christian Church?

How many of us continue to pray for family members who don’t know Christ or who have long struggled with illness or emotional difficulties?

Frequently we begin with great enthusiasm and commitment to pray for people and situations, only to become distracted or forget or lose interest. Prayer Attention Deficit Disorder sets in and we are no longer able to sustain our focus.

A similar situation had beset many Christians by the writing of Luke’s Gospel. They had been taught to pray "thy kingdom come." They longed for the day of Christ’s coming, a day in which their hope in Christ would be vindicated. But instead they had encountered hardships and persecution. The glorious journey of faith had become a long and dusty road, and they had begun to lose heart. They began to wonder if God even heard their prayers, if even they should bother offering them. P-ADD was about to claim them.

But enter Luke. In his Gospel he records a parable of Jesus, a parable addressed to just that issue, the parable of the woman and the unjust judge.

He was a judge. We don’t know whether Jesus pictured a formal, judicial figure or simply a local leader who had been granted authority to make decision. Either way, he was a man of power and prestige, someone known in the whole community.

On the other hand, she was a widow, one of the least of these in Jesus’ day. She was easily victimized and virtually helpless to do anything about it. But I said virtually, for this woman came to the judge seeking a judgment against her opponent. Of course, the judge rejected her plea. But that didn’t stop her. She came again. And again he refused her. Still again she came; still again he dismissed her. Again and again she came before him, to the point that she was wearing him out. And he realized that she was not going to go away, that every day she would be on his doorstep, pleading her case anew. And although he had no fear of God or passion for justice, he did want her to go away. And so he ordered the judgment she sought.

Jesus’ point was this: If a dishonest judge is willing to answer the pleas of a nagging old widow, then surely a loving God will answer the prayers of his children. Therefore keep praying. Persevere in faith. Confidence in God is the Ritalin needed for our PADD.

I know that last Sunday two of our Sunday School classes spent a great deal of time discussing the renewal of First Christian Church. Some folks were optimistic about what has happened. Others were frustrated that renewal has not come as quickly as we might want. I certainly understand. While in four years a lot has happened--

I had hoped that by this time we would be further along. I had hoped our prayers would have been more generously answered.

Yet when we are tempted to lose heart, to become discouraged, to wonder if God hears our prayers, to let PADD beset us, we need to remember that God loves God’s children. God longs to helps us. God wants to answer our prayers, if only we will persevere in faith.

Sometimes that’s not easy. We can get distracted. We can find the effort hard to sustain. We can find the journey requires more of us than we had hoped or imagined. But God’s promise remains sure--the prayers of the faithful will never be ignored. So let us persevere so that when they are answered, God will indeed find us with faith. Amen.