Consistent and Persistent Prayer

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

INTRODUCTION

[BEFORE SERMON] Good morning. Mention the openings of the Building and Grounds ministry position and the Treasurer position.

Welcome to CHCC. As we continue our study through the book of Luke, we now make our way into chapter 18 which opens up with two parables that focus on the life of prayer in the believer. My initial hope was to go through both of them this morning but for the sake of time and to give each parable their proper attention we will break them up into the next two weeks before getting into our two week Easter series. The first parable, which is our passage this week, focuses on the call to persistent prayer and the second focuses more on the heart of prayer and our posture before the Lord. The two together create for us, then, the blueprint or the building blocks to our own prayer life. If there is one area in my own life that I desire to grow and to see more than just subtle changes to—it is the life of prayer. Creating a habitual, powerful, and expectant heart of prayer should be the desire of every Christian.

Now whether it is because past prayers weren’t answered in the way we desired, or we simply haven’t become naturally inclined to bend the knee and rend the heart in prayer, I know I’m not alone in the struggle to maintain consistent and persistent prayer. The passages in our crosshairs this morning encourage us, however, to become consistent and persistent. So my hope and my prayer this morning is that for those who struggle with consistency in prayer is that you would find encouragement this morning to do just that. And for those who already find themselves in consistent and persistent prayer that you would maintain that life and find even more hope, consistency, and desire in your prayer life.

If you have your Bibles with you this morning, please open with me to Luke chapter 18 as we begin in verse one.

PRAY

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Luke 18:1-8 - 1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

APPLICATION

Last week, if you recall, we discussed the moment in time we currently find ourselves—we called it the “Already and Not Yet of God’s Kingdom.” This interesting moment in time where the kingdom of God has already come in the person and work of Jesus Christ, but has not been fully consummated. In one sense we are called to enjoy the already of God’s kingdom.

Ephesians 2:5-6 - 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 1:3 - 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

This “seating” and “blessing” are both present realities of the Already of the kingdom for us. And yet, even so, we are still called to focus on the eternal—the promises of the Not Yet reality of the kingdom.

Colossians 3:1–4 - If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

In the book of Titus it really gives us the idea of how the believer is to live in the present reality of the Already and Not Yet of the Kingdom.

Titus 2:11-14 - 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

If you recall from our passage just last week, Jesus mentioned to His disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.” (Luke 17:22)

For the believer there is the longing for the fulfillment of the Kingdom and so we wait longingly until its arrival. Peter would mention in his writings about mockers in the last days…

2 Peter 3:3–4 - “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

This—in a sense—lines up with the reality that believers living in the Already and Not Yet of the Kingdom will be persecuted. This has been a fact seen throughout the history of the church—from Acts to today. And the warnings of this reality are also seen throughout the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:12 - “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

Jesus even gave the promise of the kingdom to those who would face persecution for His name!

Matthew 5:10 - “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

So all of this is to say, essentially, How are we to live in the Not Yet of the Kingdom?

And through the employment of the two parables which open up chapter 18, Jesus helps to answer this question. The beginning of the answer starts in verse one: And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

So how are, as believers, to live in the Not Yet of the Kingdom? With constant prayer and a heart always filled with hope. And then he gives an example of this through the parable of the persistent widow.

The opening portion of the parable gives us two distinct characters. A judge who has no respect for man and no fear for God; and a widow who was persistent in her pestering.

Now, according to Scripture, this judge is unqualified based simply off the fact that He does not fear God.

2 Chronicles 19:6–7 - “and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgment. Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking bribes.””

This judge—by his own admission—did not fear God or respect man thus he was simply a man looking out for his own interests. It is likely based off his character that we are given that he was a man given to bribes. He is no judge in the sense that justice is not handed down as it should be.

On the other end of the spectrum, as far as social class is concerned, is this widow. Widows, as you may know, were nearly defenseless in ancient Jewish society. Malachi 3:5 infers that widows were oppressed. Exodus 22:22-24 tells us widows were often taken advantage of and the book of Isaiah reveals that widows were often victims in the court of law, which seems to be the case of our widow here in the parable. She simply asks for “justice” against her adversary. She’s not looking for revenge. She simply wants justice to be handed down to the one taking advantage of her.

In dealing with a judge such as the one in our passage, justice for the sake of justice will not come. The most likely ways of seeing this judge take action is through bribery, threat, or pleading. The widow has no ability for bribery. She poses no threat based off her social standing and so that leaves her with only one means of obtaining justice—persistent pleading.

So this is exactly what she did, day after day after day. The language here seems to also imply that the pleading went beyond just the courtroom. She pestered him outside his home, in the market, on the streets. Everywhere he went, there she was pleading for justice.

And we may think with such a man as this, certainly no amount of pleading will change his heart and mind. But it works!

Luke 18:5 - “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 phrase “beat me down” is a great Greek phrase. The literal translation means to “blacken my eye.” It was a fighting term (or boxing term). It is the same term Paul uses in his letter to the Corinthians when he disciplines his body and keeps it under control. Some translations say, “I beat my body…”

Now, of course she wasn’t physically beating him down but perhaps his reputation is taking a hit by this widows constant pestering. Perhaps it has become an embarrassing shadow following him around and colleagues are beginning to mock him. Whatever the case, he had taken a proverbial black eye and so he finally relents! Justice is given!

Now for the lesson of the parable. R. Kent Hughes suggests the lesson has often been misunderstood. He says,

This parable’s lesson has often been greatly misunderstood, because most people think it teaches that feverish importunity (troublesome persistence) in prayer is a virtue. Untold numbers of sermons have wrongly used this text to teach that we must frantically beg God to answer our prayers. This is not the idea at all.

So what then is the idea? The parable is all about contrast—namely between the judge and God Himself. The judge in the parable is merciless, ungracious, unloving, self-seeking, unjust. In contrast, God is quite the opposite. He is merciful, gracious, loving, just. And in another sense, we are unlike the nameless widow in the passage. We are the children of God!

What is more, is that every characteristic and quality of God is infinitely so! We are incapable of measuring the depth, width, breadth of His character. In terms of His being just, A.W. Tozer wrote: “Just—when used of God—is a name we give to the way God is, nothing more; and when God acts justly He is…simply acting like himself in every situation.”

This isn’t to say that consistent and persistent prayer is bad or unnecessary. But we shouldn’t heap prayers over and over with the idea that God has been ignoring our cries and they are piling up at His footstool, hoping that eventually our persistence moves him to action. Remember, God is wholly unlike the judge in the parable. He hears our cries, He desires our hearts. He is justice, grace, mercy, and love in infinite perfection.

C. Samuel Storms wrote a book titled Reaching God’s Ear in which he encourages us to answer some questions in regard to our prayer lives.

Do we repeat a request because we think that the quality of a prayer is dependent on the quantity of words?

Do we repeat a request because we think that God is ignorant and needs to be informed, or if not ignorant at least he is unconcerned and therefore needs to be aroused?

Do we repeat our prayers because we believe that God is unwilling to answer and we must prevail upon him, somehow transforming a hard-hearted God into a compassionate and loving one?

Do we repeat a petition because we think that God will be swayed in his decision by our putting on a show of zeal and piety, as if God cannot see through the thin veil of hypocrisy?

So ultimately our consistent crying out comes down to a matter of the heart. After all, Paul exhorts the church to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

But what does that mean and how does that look? We don’t persist with our requests before God because we fear He may not hear. We persist because we KNOW that He hears us and that He loves us.

As Charles Spurgeon so aptly put it:

The habit of prayer is good, but the spirit of prayer is better.

Charles Spurgeon

And it is this heart or spirit of prayer that Jesus touches on in the next parable. But before we get there, let us consider Jesus’ words in verses 6-8.

Luke 18:6–8 - “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. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

So a couple of things. First, maybe you think, “Okay, great! But I’ve prayed and prayed and prayed for things and God didn’t answer. He didn’t act speedily or swiftly. What does this mean, then?”

First, to respond to that question, we must understand time according to God is unlike time to us.

2 Peter 3:8–9a - “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness,”

Time to us may seem forever, but to God it is just a moment. Also, I believe the understanding here is that when God acts He does so swiftly.

But maybe it is the silence that finds you discouraged. I continue to reach out and plead with God but I hear nothing in response. Has He forgotten me? Is He ignoring me? Perhaps you consider that you lack enough faith and therefore the petition never reaches the ear of God. Forget all that; that is just the enemy trying to find a foothold on your heart. God has not forgotten you; nor is he ignoring you; nor is the amount of faith what makes a petition reach the ear of God.

What we must come to understand is that sometimes it is through the silence that our loving God is answering the prayer. Sometimes the silence is simply a loving “no” by God. Sometimes the request we make is what we think is best, but God has a better way coming.

Think of Paul and his persistent “thorn in his side.” Three times he petitions for God to remove it. It wasn’t due to lack of faith or questioning whether God heard his cries that he asks multiple times. But God’s silence, Paul understands as a loving “no.” And because of that Paul learns firsthand of God’s sufficient grace perfected in his own weakness.

Through the “no” to Paul’s request, Paul learned not to lean on self-sufficiency but rather to lean on God for ALL things at ALL times. I don’t want to speak for everyone here, but oftentimes the requests I make that are returned with a loving “no” are requests made to allow for self-sufficiency. “Okay, thanks for answering that prayer God. I got it from here…”

But how much greater to learn dependency upon God for ALL things at ALL times?!

I won’t tell you I have the answers as to why God chooses to respond with a yes here and silence or a loving no there. His ways are beyond my ways; His thoughts greater than my thoughts. But sometimes, perhaps, the silence means there is an answer beyond what we are even perceiving. Oswald Chambers—the author of My Utmost for His Highest—said:

“Some prayers are followed by silence because they are wrong, others because they are bigger than we can understand. It will be a wonderful moment for some of us when we stand before God and find that the prayers we clamoured for in early days and imagined were never answered, have been answered in the most amazing way, and that God’s silence has been the sign of the answer.”

And sometimes, as I mentioned before, perhaps that silence is meant to build up in us a dependency upon God Himself rather than on ourselves.

Other times the delay in response may allow for our prayers to marinate; to mature.

Jesus concludes with a question for His disciples, and for us today as well. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

And if we are to answer that question with a “Yes, He will find faith on earth,” then we need to go back to verse one where we are called to “always pray and not lose heart.” For it is through prayer and consistent prayer that we find our faith will be built up and matured. And we continue to pray day by day, moment by moment because God is wholly unlike the judge in the parable. We persist in prayer because God is loving and God is gracious and in God we find our strength and our hope and our peace. And we persist in prayer because through a life built upon habitual prayer we learn dependency upon God above all else.

Author of Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan said:

Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan. Prayer will cease a man from sin; or sin will cease a man from prayer.

John Bunyan

God loves our prayer! And prayer is our means to reach the ear and heart of God! So why would we not desire to make consistent and persistent prayer a part of our very being? I love how Warren Wiersbe puts it:

Prayer is not something that I do; prayer is something that I am.

Warren W. Wiersbe

Making prayer as much a part of my life as breathing ought to be the desire of our hearts! The great reformer Martin Luther said that “Prayer is the sweat of the soul.” I love that! For those who desire a healthy body, they exercise—they jog, lift weights, calisthenics, all that. And in so doing, they build up the body in a healthy manner. Likewise, prayer builds up a healthy spiritual life! I would contend in many ways we will find ourselves as far or as close to God based on how much or how little we pray.

And I don’t say this to make you feel guilty. My intention is never to guilt someone into prayer. My hope is that prayer is your desire. Then creating the habit of prayer. And in that habit, developing a heart of prayer. The two go hand in hand. Anyone can carve out time and then just go through the motions of prayer. But it is developing a posture of rending our hearts before God and coming before the throne in humility, confidence, and desire.

So with that said, I can’t think of a better way of closing out our study with prayer. So as the worship team comes up and closes out our service with worship, I want to offer prayer for any one who would like it. So I will be available over to the side and [another Elder and wife] will be available as well. We simply want to offer prayer for you this morning.

Let’s close.

PRAY