A Persistent Widow

Sky Jumper Helicopter from Sears Catalog

There are 84 days until Christmas. Have you started shopping?

Christmas shopping has changed a lot over the years.

Now we go to Amazon and Walmart.com and find everything.

Who here remembers getting the Sears Wish Book Christmas Catalog every year around this time?

My sister and I would memorize that thing by the end of October, scouring every page and reading every description.

We would have notes, highlighter marks, and circles around everything we wanted.

And without fail, from like 1989 to at least 1995 or 96 I would have a circle around the “Sky Jumper Helicopter”.

If we still had those catalogs, I would guarantee that the Sky Jumper Helicopter would be circled in everyone of them.

I wanted that thing so bad! The idea of flying it around my dad’s field 100 feet in the air and then the little parachute guy popping out and floating down to the ground, HOW STINK COOL RIGHT!?!

I never got the helicopter though, and it was probably for the best. I would have probably only flown 1 time before I crashed it or lost it.

One thing is sure, I was persistent in asking, even if it didn’t fruition as I hoped.

That is Jesus’s message in Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1–8 CSB

1 Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people. 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 people, 5 yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that 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 helping them? 8 I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus’s purpose for this parable is stated in the beginning.

He is teaching His disciples, and us, to persist in prayer.

Don’t stop praying until Jesus comes back.

He tells the story of two people, a Godless Judge and a needy widow.

Though we are intended to see ourselves in the widow, Jesus doesn’t mean for us to see God in the judge.

Rather His point is to contrast the Judge in the story with God. Thus contrasting the kingdom of man with the Kingdom of God.

Contrasting Kingdoms

A widow comes to a Judge who seems to have the position in their town to fix and issue of injustice that was plaguing the woman.

Widows in this time would have had a rough life.

They didn’t own any land, weren’t able to have jobs, and were dependent on others taking care of their needs.

This widow was going to the selfish and cruel judge over and over again because she needed help, she needed justice.

But over and over again the Judge denied her what she was seeking.

Yet she did not stop coming. She was persistent and her persistence finally pays off.

The judge, simply out of exhaustion with the woman’s request, finally give in and grants her the request.

This Godless, self-centered, unloving Judge is the antihero of the story who stands in stark contrast to our God and Father.

And the Kingdom the Judge represents is very different than the one Jesus represents and invites us into.

We will find:

1) COMPASSION not CALLOUSNESS

Over and over again the widow was met with a callousness and uncaring heart.

The Judge didn’t listen because he didn’t care.

It wasn’t his problem, wasn’t hurting him, so why would he do anything about it.

That isn’t God though.

Jesus calls those who are the children of God “the elect”

Before you tune me out, understand that Jesus is point to God’s feelings toward us. He loved us before we were a thought in our mother’s mind.

He chose us before we chose Him, and He received us when we did choose Him.

So if He loves us with that kind of love, will He then turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to our prayers.

ABSOLUTELY NOT! Jesus says.

2) EAGERNESS not ARROGANCE

It was only when the Judge finally had enough, was overwhelmed by the woman’s persistence that he finally gave in, and even then it was with reluctance.

That is not God though.

He is eager, not arrogantly petty.

You might hear what Jesus says and think “I have been praying for something for a long time and God hasn’t answered my prayer. Where is my swift justice?”

Just because our prayers haven’t been answered in the way and timing we desire, it doesn’t mean God isn’t listening and isn’t eager to answer.

Timing in the Kingdom doesn’t always match up with our own timing, nor do our desires always line up.

Jesus is showing us in this parable that God isn’t like the World and He isn’t like we often think of Him as we shape Him into a picture of the world.

This is a message to those who are Christians, Children of God, saved and redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

It is a call to prayer in light of the goodness of God’s Kingdom.

And it is directed to those of us who struggle to pray.

Why do we struggle to pray?

1) An EARTHLY PREOCCUPATION

Back in chapter 17, Jesus is answering a question about the end of the age.

He mentions two OT accounts to make the point about how the Kingdom will come and our attentiveness for when it does.

The first is Noah.

Luke 17:26–27 CSB

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: 27 People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

The second is Lot leaving Sodom before it’s destruction:

Luke 17:28–32 CSB

28 It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. 29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife!

The commonality in those stories is the description of what he people were doing: “they went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying...”

What separated Noah and his family from “the people” was his attention, the direction of his gaze, the voice he was listening too.

What separated Lot from “the people” was his attention, the direction of his gaze, the voice he was listening too.

“But remember Lot’s wife” when she looked back with longing at what she was leaving behind she turned to a pillar of salt.

Luke 17:33 ESV

33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

What is the nature of your prayers?

Are the meant to persevere your life, or are they focused on the Kingdom.

2) A WEARY HEART

Prayerlessness isn’t all wrapped up in being preoccupied with worldly pursuits or earthly pleasures.

There is a reality that many of us feel right now.

That we have prayed for something or someone for so long and it seems our prayers have purposed no fruit.

There is a weariness that comes from the silence of God.

One of my favorite Musicians wrote a song about the Silence of God. Here is the opening verse:

It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God — Andrew Peterson “Silence of God”

The beauty of those lyrics is how they capture our feelings so acutely.

Luke tells the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth in the beginning of his Gospel account.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were likely well into their 50s or 60s when the angel Gabriel came to him in the temple.

Remember what the angel said

Luke 1:13 CSB

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.

“Your prayer has been heard...” to which Zechariah responds “What prayer?”

Luke 1:18 CSB

18 “How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

They had stopped praying for kids a long time ago. She had gotten too old, and they had gotten too weary.

I don’t share that to give you false hope that God will answer your prayer in exactly the way you pray it

How do we keep praying when we become weary?

We remember, we rejoice, and we pursue thankfulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 CSB

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Remember the goodness and grace of God, seek joy in Him not in circumstances, and find reasons to be thankful.

Our hearts are frail and the world is challenging, don’t lose heart, because Jesus has overcome the world.

3) PERSISTENT SIN

When unconfessed, persistent sin remains in our lives it hinders our desire to pray as we are either too distracted by our sin or too shameful to believe God would listen to us.

Psalm 66:18 ESV

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Don’t misunderstand David’s words here. It isn’t that God isn’t listening to him, it is that God doesn’t affirm his sinful heart and actions.

God doesn’t answer our self-centered, fleshly prayers. At least not affirmatively.

Sin separates us from God and so the familiarity and affection we share with God as believers is hindered by our sinfulness.

Either we are too caught up in our sin to consider prayer. Choosing the temporal fulfillment of the pursuits of the flesh over the eternal richness of goodness of God.

Or we are so riddled with shame that we don’t even feel worthy to speak to Him, believing He is too appalled by our sin to hear from us.

It isn’t God who refuses to listen, it is us who struggles or refuses to pray.

4) LACK of KNOWING

This isn’t a lack of KNOWLEDGE, but a lack of KNOWING.

1 John 5:14 CSB

14 This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

To pray according to God’s will means that we pray seeking the heart of God, what He loves (knowing that He loves us) and what He wants (which is what is best).

But if we believe that God is grumpy and hard to please, we would struggle to pray for His will.

If we believe he is incompetent or lacks power, we would struggle to believe His ways are good and right.

Jesus is teaching us the nature and character of God.

He is not only able to answer our prayers, He is WILLING.

He cares for us, unlike the cruel, selfish judge.

He isn’t burdened by us or annoyed with our prayers.

But do we KNOW that? Do you KNOW HIM?

Too often when we struggle with prayer we focus on the wrong things.  We focus on praying better instead of focusing on knowing better the one to whom we pray. — Kevin DeYoung

Prayerlessness is comes from a lack of knowledge.

Prayerfulness grows as faith in our mighty, loving God grows.

Invitation

Persistence in prayer is a means by which vibrant faith will be stoked.

I love the image John Piper gives for the relationship between faith, God’s grace, and prayer.

“Faith is the furnace of our lives. Its fuel is the grace of God. And the divinely appointed shovel for feeding the burner is prayer.” — John Piper

If you are familiar with a steam engine, the heart of the motor is fire that is creating the steam.

The hotter the fire the stronger the pull.

Coal is the fuel that stokes the fire and the shovel is the means by which the coal is thrown into the fire.

Hear me out: I am not saying that if you pray MORE you will have a vibrant and growing faith in God just because you put in more time.

I can’t make that promise.

But I can make this promise:

If we don’t pray…if we don’t fight through the things that hinder our prayers…if we don’t persist…then our faith will likely grow cold as the fuel of God grace dies out.

Jesus ends this parable with a painful image.

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

It is a warning and an invitation:

Will we receive it?