Praying like the persistent widow

SCRIPTURE:

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8

OBSERVATION:

In divine teaching about perseverance in prayer, our Lord Jesus painted the picture of a widow that kept bugging the town judge to give her justice against her adversary. Eventually, although the judge was an ungodly man and did not care about others, he finally gave in to the widow to stop her bothering him. Using this illustration, the Lord explains that we who keep praying to God are like the widow, and if we keep crying to God day and night, He will see that we get justice, and quickly.

Four things we can learn from this parable. Firstly, we must be persistent in prayer. If we pray a half-hearted once-in-a-while prayer, we can hardly expect God to answer. But if we pray earnestly and persistently day and night, our prayers will be heard, and God will respond.

Secondly, the motive of the prayer is important. The widow prayed for justice from a judge. We pray to a God who is all righteous and all just. If we pray for something that is unjust or not right, how can we expect to get an answer? We must pray for what is right. We can pray all we want for millions of dollars so we don’t have to work and live an easy, indulgent life, but how can we expect God to answer such a selfish prayer?  

Thirdly, we must pray with passion. The widow was so aggressive and passionate in her pleas to the judge that he was worried that she might come and attack him! The Lord said in Matthew 11:1 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent take it by force”. Violence here does not mean harming others but being forceful and passionate in pursuing something. We need to be strong in our prayers, believing God is our Father!

Fourthly, we are to leave vengeance to God. Romans 12:19 says “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.” The widow did not take matters into her own hands and attack her adversary, but left it to the judge to take action. In the same way, though we are wronged on earth, we are not to take vengeance. Instead, we are told to love our enemies, to forgive others, to leave vengeance to God. We are not the judge, God is. Our part is to trust God to be just, and concerned with our own selves being right before Him.

God is looking for people who will be persistent and passionate and seek justice and righteousness in their prayers. The Lord wondered if at His second coming He would find faith on the earth. In the time of great trouble that He predicted, Christians will come under the most heavy persecution ever seen, and there will be a great falling away. Would we be among those who keep praying to God, who keep trusting in His justice and righteousness in spite of all that will happen?

APPLICATION:

We need to be persistent in prayer, pray with passion, and pray with right motives. Then, we also need to learn to leave vengeance to God, not become consumed in our own anger or unforgiveness. Let us pray that we will be faithful in prayer and trusting God till the end and be able to stand before the Lord!  

PRAYER:

We praise You and love You and thank You, Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, for this lesson on prayer. Teach us Lord and empower us to pray passionately, persistently and rightly. Strengthen us we pray to forgive those who hurt us, to bless those who hate us, to leave vengeance to You, trusting in Your complete righteousness and justice. We bless You and thank You and love You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.