Perseverance in Prayer
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Luke 18
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 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?”
Intro
Intro
The Bible is full of instructions to pray - and often with a promise that God will answer
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
“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. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Mat
And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
All of these verses contain promises that the prayer of faith will be answered by God.
Yet for many of us, it often feels like God is either delaying his answer, or not answering at all.
For reasons known only to God - reasons that are wise and gracious and perfect - God doesn’t always answer us right away.
BUT, God encourages us to keep praying…
to never give up...
to never lose heart...
To persevere in faith.
Jesus tells this parable to make this point.
The point (which I am telling up front)…
Is that no matter how bad things are, no matter how bad the world has become, God wants his children to persevere in prayer - and they can be confident that God will hear them and answer them.
The Judge
The Judge
“In a certain city...”
Corrupt judges and widowed women were common
Courts
The Great Sanhedrin
71 judges
all experts in OT Law and tradition
powerful, oppressive, unjust
devised the conspiracy that led to Jesus crucifixion
Lesser Sanhedrin
one in each city
23 judges
influenced by the pharisees
man-made rules & traditions
faulty interpretations
Sabbath restrictions
notoriously self-righteous & corrupt
Roman local magistrates
criminal cases
looked after interests of Caesar
worst - no morals, no conscience, ruthless
paid large salaries - out of the temple treasury
Gentiles and unbelievers
Official title was Prohibition Judges
change one letter in Aramaic term - Robber Judges
The judge in the story is a Roman judge
“neither feared God nor respected man”
didn’t care about justice
indifferent to the needs of people or their causes
no compassion, no understanding of people’s pain
didn’t care about justice
became a judge for status, power and money
Wasn’t naive or self-deceived
fully aware of how corrupt he was
verse 4 “Though I neither fear God nor respect man...”
By his own confession
He lived in open defiance of the two greatest commandments
no wonder Jesus refers to him as the unrighteous judge in verse 6
he is not carrying out the duties of office
a judge is supposed to maintain justice
apply the law of God and care for the needs of the people
This judge didn’t care about God’s law nor people
no honour, no shame
in a culture where honour and shame are everything
The Woman
The Woman
a victim of injustice or oppression
only one option - to seek justice in the courts
probably destitute and alone
in the culture, courts belonged to men
if she had a man in her life, he would have been in court
no husband
no brother, brother-in-law, father, cousin, nephew, distant relative, neighbour, friend
This woman represents people who are:
dirt poor
helpless
powerless
unknown
unloved
uncared for
desperate
Because she is a widow, her case should have been simple
just claim or not, the judge needed to at least give her something out of mercy
just claim or not, the judge needed to at least give her something out of mercy
Moses’ law
disciples would have known this - Moses’ law
“You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”
“learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
God cares for the fatherless and the widow
God has compassion on the helpless
Judges and people in authority have a duty to care for and provide for widows
On the basis of mercy alone, this woman should have received the help she needed
She had a solid case
She wasn’t asking for special treatment
she was asking for justice
she was relentless
“There was a woman in the city who kept coming...”
again and again
“give me justice against my adversary”
Something had already been done to her
she has nothing left to lose
spends her life seeking justice
Judge’s response unbelievably cold
Flat out refused to even listen to her
Maybe her case seemed insignificant to him… but to her it was everything
either way, his lack of concern or compassion is shocking
Jesus has painted a picture of a judge who is cruel, cold-hearted and callous
The Turning Point
The Turning Point
Verse 4 says this went on for a while
eventually, the judge had a change of heart
but not because he realised he was being cruel and unjust
he simply got sick and tired of this woman
‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’
"Verse 4-5 “Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.”
For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ”
he knows he’s not doing his job
he knows he’s being unjust and unrighteous
he knows he’s corrupt
but he also knows this woman is not going to shut up and leave him alone
she’s irritating him and he knows its not going to stop
Only one way to silence her and that’s to give her what she wants
For the sake of his own peace, he gives her what she wants
The Meaning
The Meaning
The point is made clear at the start
“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
Always pray.... don’t lose heart
This is a lesson in perseverance in prayer, and faith in God
Bear in mind the context
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Back in chapter 17 - the coming of the Kingdom
As it was in the days of Noah...
eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage
As it was in the days of Lot...
Come when it is unexpected
Come at a time when there is great evil
Jesus is going to come in fury and destroy his enemies - like with Noah and Lot
Where the corpse is,there the vultures will gather
While this imagery is fresh in the minds of the disciples...
The point Jesus is making is that while we wait for His return, we will endure suffering and hardship and injustice… but He wants us to keep praying and not lose heart.
Jesus wants us to live with a kingdom perspective - with our eyes fixed on Him, and expectant for His Second Coming
Firstly, Jesus is calling us to pray for His coming
Secondly, Jesus wants us to pray that we would remain faithful
“But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge,
But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Thirdly, Jesus wants us to pray concerning anything that hinders us from being faithful
removing sin
handing over our anxieties and troubles - holding onto them is unbelief!
cares of this world
satisfied in Jesus
a love for justice and compassion for people
In all these things, we are like the woman - helpless, at the mercy of the judge
n all these things, Jesus wants us to be like
Jesus wants us to be like the widow - persevere in prayer, and don’t lose heart
God is nothing like the unjust judge
In the parable, Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater
If such an unrighteous and corrupt judge, who has no compassion, can be moved by sheer perseverance to grant justice…
Then… “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”
The judge was unjust, but God is just
The judge was unrighteous but God is righteous in all his ways
the judge was ruthless, cruel and cold, but God is merciful
If that unjust judge was moved by the perseverance of the widow to grant justice…
how much more will our just, righteous and merciful God be moved by the persevering faith of his children who come to him constantly ?
Pray without ceasing… pray always… persevere in praying and believing, because God is merciful and he will answer
Some may ask why God takes so long…
In fact, if we look around us, it doesn’t seem like there is much justice…
Why is it taking so long?
Why does God delay in answering us?
Well, the unjust judge delayed because of indifference
but God is not indifferent to his children’s cries
so why does God sometimes delay?
“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, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Why does the Lord delay in answering our prayers?
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, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Why does he delay in delivering us from so much injustice and suffering in this world?
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?”
Because God is longsuffering
Luke 18:
He is patient, not wishing that anyone should perish
Giving time for every one of the elect to repent and believe and be saved
He was patient with us!
By living with a Kingdom perspective and our eyes on the Second Coming, we will learn to be patient with others
and ourselves endure with longsuffering unil He comes
But until then, we ought to pray always and not lose heart.
So again, Jesus wants us to live with a kingdom perspective, praying always and expectantly for His Coming
and don’t lose heart with everything that is wrong - He is Coming!
That’s a fact
That’s a fact
Pray until He comes
Pray until He comes
Jesus ends his parable this way: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
When he comes, will he find us praying and seeking him?
Will he find us persevering in faith and anticipating his return?
Or will he find us totally unprepared?
So again, Jesus wants us to live with a kingdom perspective, praying always and expectantly for His Coming
and don’t lose heart with everything that is wrong - He is Coming!
That’s a fact
Pray until He comes
Persevere in prayer until He answers
Pray for your needs
Pray for your struggles
Pray for your weaknesses
Pray for Jesus to come
Pray for the country, the world, our enemies
He is a good judge, a merciful judge…
He will answer
“The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
Ps 98:
You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
Is
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.