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 about men. 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 about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" 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]
Things looked bleak for the children of George Muller's orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Muller was visiting in the home. Muller took her hand and said, "Come and see what our Father will do." In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home's account. Muller prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o'clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it.
George Mueller was known for his powerful prayer. In the course of his ministry to the orphans of England, he never asked for financial assistance from men - only God... and he constantly received what was needed.
Reasons We’re Not Persistent:
Are you persistent in prayer? If so, continue, but if you’re not, then let’s look at a few reason why we don’t continue in the disciple of prayer.
#1 - Unbelief
I think there are many reasons some of us are not persistent. For some of us, it is unbelief, we don’t believe God really cares about our needs; our unbelief is based on the idea that God doesn’t have our best interest at hand.
#2 - Fear
Maybe it is fear, a fear of growing closer to God, a reason for this can be we have sin in our life and we live with the fear of judgment. Another reason for fear is we not sure what God would ask of us if we drew near to Him. Or maybe it is we are afraid how He will answer our prayer, maybe He will cause us to go through something we aren’t willing to do. Just like any relationship we have, we wonder what the cost will be, what is required of me if I allow God close.
#3 – Spiritual Warfare
Some of us are in a spiritual fight; Satan can use many things to keep us from growing closer to God. He uses fear at times, but for most of us he uses distractions. Problems, dilemmas, and things we enjoy keeping our focus on anything but God
#4 - Discouragement
I think one of the most identifiable reasons is discouragement. Discouragement brings about a lack of hope, a lack of faith. We may have asked God for help in the past but we didn’t see any answer to our prayer, so we become discouraged and gave up on Him. Now we may look good on the outside, we come to church, we do all the right Christian things, but inside we are distant from Him and don’t really trust Him, discouragement destroys any relationship, especially with God.
#4 - Skeptical
Maybe you’re skeptical; you don’t really believe He wants to help. You say to yourself and to others, “He has more important things to concern Himself with.”
#5 - Anger
On the other hand maybe you’re mad at Him, because life hasn’t turned out like you wanted it to. So you turn your anger and bitterness towards God. You’ll show Him, you will just keep your distance, somehow thinking that you will get what you want by punishing Him with your coldness. Dave Harvey in his book Rescuing Ambition says, “Sometimes when God delays our ambitions, we try to and I know this is crazy – punish Him by pulling our dreams off the table. “God, you don’t deliver, so I’m not trusting my hopes and dreams to you. So there!” Have you pulled your dreams off the table, and trusted your hopes and dreams to someone or something else? Is so, you might be guilty of a heavenly temper tam tram.
#6 - Pride
The last reason I think we are not persistent is because we are prideful. We think we need to pull up our own bootstraps to get things done. Going to God because we are in need, seems weak to us. We think God wants us to figure things out on our own, and we would rather do that, than admit we need Him. Pride stands in our way, pride tells us to be self-sufficient, and depending on others is a sign of neediness. So we don’t persistent in prayer.
If you aren’t persistent in your prayer life, then which one of these do you tend to fall into? Which one is keeping you from a closer walk with God?
The Widow and the Judge:
So let’s look at the two players in the parable. First we have the unrighteous judge. In the Old Testament, Moses calls the judges into account, Deuteronomy 1:16-17a says, “And I charged your judges at that time, 'Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's.”
Leviticus 19:15 says, "You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”
The judges in Israel were held to a high standard, to bring about justice to those who were in need. William Barclay in his commentary on Luke points out that the judge in Jesus' parable was not Jewish. Disputes between Jews were usually settled by 3 elders - one chosen by the plaintiff, one by the defendant and one independently appointed. The judge in the parable was probably a paid magistrate appointed by Herod or the Romans. Such men were notoriously corrupt. To get a case settled you either needed influence or the money to pay a bribe. A Roman proverb says, “A corrupt judge does not carefully search for truth.”
This judge was unrighteous in his execution of the law, he didn’t bother with the widow’s problem, because he was only concerned about himself. He turned his eyes from a careful searching for the truth.
Now let’s turn our attention to the widow. The word widow in Latin means deprived, void and emptied. When Naomi lost her husband and two sons, in the book of Ruth, she said, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" Ruth 1:20-21
In our day we can’t comprehend the plight of the widows in the time of Jesus. Today with life insurance and other safeguards, the widow’s life is still very difficult, but in comparison, isn’t as bad as it was back then. Losing a husband is a tragedy, but to lose your livelihood and everything you need to survive is even more tragic. In those days marriage gave protection to a woman, on the other hand a widow had no one to protect them. They were poor and had no way of gainful employment. It was left to the synagogues and the people of Israel to provide for them. John Macarthur states, the synagogues would have a collection group that would go out every Friday morning and they would circle the city and collect goods and money from the various people, bringing it back on Friday afternoon, distributing it out to the widows before Friday night sundown which began the Sabbath. And that's how they ministered the small amount that they did minister to the poor widows. But what we learn from the passage is the poverty of a widow and something of a widow's dependency on God. The scribes and the Pharisees and the leaders of Israel devoured widows' houses. In other words, they took advantage of desolate women. They stole from the poor, if you will. And so here is a woman who somehow has been defrauded. Maybe she was defrauded by...or could have been defrauded by religious leaders through some false claim to her goods on their behalf…. The woman was all alone. She had no friends or family to help her get justice. The widow fought on single-handedly with no allies, no supporters, no-one to give her moral support.” The widow’s life was extremely hard, she had no one on her side except God. Death of a husband brought about a death of more than a spouse, but a death from a life with the community. She was all alone. She was deprived, void and emptied, her new name was Mara, for ”I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.”
What We Can Learn:
The widow went to the judge day after day, looking for justice. She used her influence on the judge’s indifference. She was intentional, she was persistent, and she believed she would eventually get justice. She had hope, she didn’t give up when her adversaries hounded her, and the judge did nothing. It is the only time I can think that nagging actually worked.
What can we learn in our times of unanswered prayer? Unanswered prayer can teach us to be patient; it can be a time to deepen our relationship with God. It can transform us from our will, to God’s will. It matures us if we don’t give up. Contrast that with what we might learn if all our prayers were answered in our time. We would become impatient, demanding, and immature in faith and we most likely would have a shallow relationship with God. God desires us to be persistent with Him; He looks for a people who continually come to Him. George Muller said this about unanswered prayer. He said “I give the Almighty no rest.” When it comes to pray, do you give the Almighty no rest? Or does He rarely hear from you?
I Give God No Rest:
When it came down to the widow, the judge said this about her. “Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.
The judges words “beat me down,” actually means to “beat one black and blue.” Have you ever been around someone who, with the continually coming around, beat you down?
Jesus said this about being persistent in prayer in Luke 11:5-11, “And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
The judge in this parable didn’t give the widow justice because it was the right thing to do, or because he had a change of heart, he did it because of her persistent.
Does God Answer Our Prayers Speedily?
Luke 18:6-8a
And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.
Jesus calls us to listen to what the unrighteous judge says, we are to learn from a man who is a fool. Sometimes we can learn from the mistakes of others, we can learn from the foolish actions of someone else. And Jesus is calling us to learn from a judge who is unjust.
What about you, do you really believe what Jesus says about God in this verse. Do we truly think that God will answer you speedily? 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Our definition and God’s definition of speed are very different. We think because God isn’t answering our prayers on our timetable, it is because He isn’t concerned with our needs. But this isn’t true, He is waiting, His timing is perfect, just not perfectly in line with ours.
Will He Find Faith?
Luke 18:8 states, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Nevertheless would indicate something missing in our faith, He gives us forgiveness of sin, and freedom from sin, and mercy which he provides for those who believe in Him. Nevertheless, will Jesus find faith when He returns?
But what kind of faith, is it saving faith, or another type of faith. I think He is talking about faith in God’s goodness and mercy. Faith that God will provide, that God will answer the prayers of His people. Think back to the reasons I stated earlier about why we aren’t persistent in prayer. If Jesus returned today, what kind of faith in God’s goodness and answering prayer would he find in you? Would He find you believingly, expecting, and longing for His power and mercy in your life? Or would He find someone who doubts that God cares, that doubts God will provide in a time of need. Will He find a person who looks to themselves for strength, instead of relying upon God?
"Prayer is the pulse of life; by it the doctor can tell what is the condition of the heart. The sin of prayerlessness is a proof for the ordinary Christian or minister that the life of God in the soul is in deadly sickness and weakness." - Andrew Murray
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