1 He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged: 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect man. 3 And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’4 “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’”6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night?Will He delay to help them? 8 I tell you that He will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find that faith on earth?”
Prayer is a blessed gift, it is the way we make it through the good times and the bad times in our life. As we’ve talked about before, prayer is more than a wish list. It is not the same as your shopping cart on Amazon, it is a conversation with the all mighty, sovereign, God of the universe. It is a time where we get to know Him better and where He helps us to grow to be more like His Son.
Here, Jesus is telling a parable, or using a story to illustrate a deeper truth. In this parable we have two characters; a judge and a widow. Normally you would expect the judge to represent God in this story since that was literally the job description given for a judge in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, however this was not a good judge. He did not respect man or God. Instead he serves as a contrast to God, a reminder of how good our God is, and how He hears our petitions.
The main point here is not the character of the uncaring judge it is the character of the widow, it is her persistence. In this story she had nowhere else to turn, no other resort, her only choice was to cry out to this uncaring judge. She knew he would not respond quickly, she knew she had no guarantee of being heard, and yet she did not give up, she did not lose hope. She continued to cry out believing her persistence would be rewarded.
Thankfully our hope does not rest in an uncaring judge but in our loving God. Still, we must be persistent in our prayers. I was once asked by a lady if her constant prayers showed a lack of faith. She said “If I pray once and leave it then that shows I have a true faith but if I keep praying then it shows I don't trust God to answer my first prayer.” I led her to this parable and explained to her that it is by asking repeatedly and hopefully that we show we have true faith. That we are willing to not give up on a need. Of course her response was “Why? Why must I pray persistently, why won't God just give me what I want now?”
Maybe He wants us to think through what we are asking first, maybe we are asking for something that He knows will not be good for us or will be better for us at a later time. Maybe He knows that we need to be prepared for whatever we are asking by spending more time with Him first.
You see even though God does want us to come to Him with our needs, and yes He is gracious and generous to supply them, our needs are not the mot important part of prayer. Prayer is first and foremost about God changing us rather than getting God to change His mind. Prayer is where we learn who God truly is and how He created us to be. It is the time spent with Him that we truly need.
Maybe He wants us to think through what we are asking first, maybe we are asking for something that He knows will not be good for us or will be better for us at a later time. Maybe He knows that we need to be prepared for whatever we are asking by spending more time with Him first.
You see even though God does want us to come to Him with our needs, and yes He is gracious and generous to supply them, our needs are not the mot important part of prayer. Prayer is first and foremost about God changing us rather than getting God to change His mind. Prayer is where we learn who God truly is and how He created us to be. It is the time spent with Him that we truly need.
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