Luke 18:1-8 - At All Times With Heart

Introduction

[READING] Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

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?”

[PRAYER]

This parable is more about God’s goodness and less about the widow’s persistence. Persistence in prayer is certainly important but persistence in prayer is only effective because our God is good. Because God is good we should pray to Him at all times with heart. That is, we ought to pray to Him with hope.

And hope in prayer is what we need because of the time in which we live.

At the end of Luke 17, Jesus spoke about His second coming.

He would go to Jerusalem and die on a Roman cross as the sacrifice for my sins and your sins if you believe.

He would rise on the third day, appear to many believers after His resurrection, and then ascend to the right hand of the Father.

And when the time comes, Jesus will return and every eye will see Him when He comes. Believers will be saved but unbelievers will be consumed by His wrath.

But you and I—we live between His ascension and His second coming. We wait with eager expectation for the day He will return, but how do we live until He does?

Jesus said, we should live by prayer.

If we don’t live by prayer during this time—the time between His ascension and His return—then we will lose heart. We will give up. We won’t have hope.

These are dark days. Immorality is on the rise. Division is on the rise. Hate is on the rise. Sinful pride is on the rise. And I think these things are going to continue to rise.

Some understand Luke 18:8 as saying that when Jesus comes again, He will find very little faith on earth and it does indeed seem as if faith is dwindling. As Jesus said Matthew 24:12, it seems that lawlessness is increasing and the love of many is growing cold.

How do we keep our love from growing cold?

How do we keep faith from dwindling in our hearts?

How do we keep hopeful and encouraged during these dark days?

How do we keep finding the spiritual energy to shine the light of Jesus in a world increasing in darkness?

The answer is prayer.

[TS] I’ve given you some reasons already, but from our passage this morning I want to give you six more REASONS to pray at all times with hope until Jesus comes…

Major Ideas

REASON #1: We should pray at all times with heart (with hope) because we are helpless.

Luke 18:1–3 ESV

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.’

[Exp] A widow in this day was a helpless individual. She had no money, no power, no family, no influence. She could not send her husband to put pressure on this unrighteous judge. She had no funds with which to hire a legal team to apply pressure. She was essentially powerless, helpless, and all but hopeless.

[App] Perhaps we feel like that sometimes. We see this world circling the drain. Maybe we are concerned about the world our children and grandchildren will grow up in, but we had better be concerned about the world we are living in. Just as water spins faster closer to the drain, so this world seems to be spinning out of control at an increasing rate.

And what can we do about it?

We can pray.

I said that we should pray at all times with heart because we are helpless—but the truth is we are only helpless without God. Jesus once said that apart from Him we could do nothing. That’s why we must pray. Prayer is the only hope for helpless people like us—people who will admit that we are helpless without Jesus; people who will admit that there is no hope for this world without Jesus.

We will not vote our way out of this darkness.

We will not legislate our way out of this darkness.

We will not argue our way out of this darkness.

But we can—and we must—pray our way through this darkness until He comes.

[TS] …

REASON #2: We should pray at all times with heart (with hope) because we have an adversary.

Luke 18:3 ESV

3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

[EXP] We don’t know what problem the widow was facing in Jesus’ parable. Jesus just tells us that she had an adversary, an enemy, an opponent.

[APP] Don’t we have an adversary? Don’t we have enemies? Aren’t we in conflict?

First Peter 5:8 says...

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

In John 16:33, Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Acts 14:22 says that we only enter the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.

In John 15:18-19, Jesus said...

John 15:18–19 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

It befuddles me that so many Christians think that if we just do this or just do that then the world will love us. If we just compromise on this moral issue or if we just get on the ‘right side of history’ in this case, then surely this world that is opposed to God will be friends with us… but it won’t work.

This world follows our adversary the devil.

We follow Jesus.

This world is never going to accept us.

Compromise won’t work…

…but prayer will.

Whenever we compromise with the world, we make a deal with the devil. And when you make a deal with the devil, you are always on the losing end.

Prayer keeps us from compromising with our adversary.

Prayer keeps us alert against the attacks of our adversary.

Prayer keeps us going when we are attacked by our adversary.

Praying keeps us longing for justice against our adversary.

[TS] …

REASON #3: We should pray at all times with heart (with hope) because God has the authority.

Luke 18:3 ESV

3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

Luke 18:7 ESV

7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

[EXP] In this parable, this widow was a resident “in that city.” Because she was a resident, she had the right to make her appeal to the judge of that city. And he had the authority to make a binding ruling in that jurisdiction.

[APP] In Luke 18:7 Jesus refers to those who believe on Him for salvation as “God’s elect.” They were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Because they are God’s elect through faith in Christ, they have the right to make their appeal to the supreme judge of all creation—God. And God has the authority to make a binding ruling in His jurisdiction.

You might ask, “Can God really do anything about the insanity in Washington?”

Well, let me ask you, “Does God have the authority to do something about it? Does that fall under His jurisdiction?” Yes!

You might ask, “Can God do something about the unbelief in my child’s heart?”

Well, let me ask you, “Does God have the authority to do something about it? Does the heart of your child fall under His jurisdiction?” Yes!

God has the authority to do something about anything anywhere but will we keep making our appeal to Him? Will we go before Him in prayer and keep making our case? Will we do it day after day as this widow woman did if that’s what’s necessary?

Wringing our hands with worry won’t work. Lying awake at night with anxiety won’t work. But prayer to a God who is our God and who has all authority—that will work!

Prayer will change things if change is God’s will.

But prayer always changes us—calling us to submit more and more to His authority—calling us to submit more and more to His will.

[TS] …

We should pray at all times with heart (with hope) because God doesn’t get beat down.

Luke 18:5 ESV

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.’ ”

[EXP] Most translations of this verse have the unrighteous judge saying something like, “I will give her justice, so she doesn’t wear me out...” The Greek word behind “wear me out” is a very descriptive word, which could be translated as something like “give me a black eye.” In fact, the New International Version has the unrighteous judge saying, “I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!” But I like the translation in the English Standard Version best, “I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.”

This unrighteous judge knew that this widow was not going away. Either she would die asking or he would die from her asking, so he relented and gave her justice.

[APP] But God is not going to get beat down by our frequent praying. We do not wear Him down in prayer like I used to wear my mother down. “Mom, can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?” And then she’d say, “Fine, go!” But God is not going to give us what we ask for just because we ask a lot and He gets frustrated with us. If that were the case, then God might give us something less than what’s best, but God won’t do that.

No, in fact, because God doesn’t get wearied by our praying, we can cry to Him day and night. We can pray without ceasing. We can continue steadfastly in prayer. We can pray at all times in the Spirit.

[TS] …

We should pray at all times with heart (with hope) because God is good.

Luke 18:6–7 ESV

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?

[EXP] Jesus means for us to contrast the unrighteous judge in this parable with God, the supreme judge who is perfectly righteous.

The unrighteous judge couldn’t be more wicked. He doesn’t fear God and he doesn’t respect man. He doesn’t care what God thinks and he does’t care what man thinks. He doesn’t love God or neighbor. He really couldn’t be worse.

But even though he is unrighteous, he still gives justice to the widow even if only to save himself from what he would have called her nagging.

Now, if an unrighteous judge will do that, how much more readily will a perfectly good God give justice to His chosen ones who call to Him day and night?

[APP] Now, a part of God’s perfect goodness is not just that He is ready to give us justice, but He is ready to give us justice—to give us what’s right—according to His perfect definition of what’s right.

There are a lot of people crying out for justice today. Very few of them want justice—want what’s right—as God defines it.

Last year, in the midst of all the unrest we had with protests and riots and destruction and killing, one girl was on the news shouting, “Justice means what I say it means.” We might scoff at that, but if we’re honest that’s how most of us think as well.

We want what we think is right, and we just assume that’s what God wants as well.

In our praying, do we ever say to God, “God, I want what’s right. I want justice in this situation as You see it. And I admit that I might not see it as you do. If so, change my perspective so that I can see justice in this situation as I should.”

Because God is good, He is ready to give us justice.

And because God is good, He is ready to give us His justice.

[TS] …

We should pray at all times with heart (with hope) because God will act quickly.

Luke 18:8 ESV

8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

[EXP] This might surprise us. What does Jesus mean that God will give us justice speedily or quickly? If God’s going to give justice quickly, then why do we need to be persistent in prayer? Why do we need to cry to Him day and night?

God may not send justice immediately, but when He sends it, He sends it quickly.

Think of what Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:8-10. In 2 Peter 3:8-9 we are told that God doesn’t always count time the way we do...

2 Peter 3:8–9 ESV

8 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. 9 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.

So, justice may not come as quickly as we would like because God is patient wishing that all would reach repentance.

But when justice comes it will come quickly. Listen to 2 Peter 3:10...

2 Peter 3:10 ESV

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

The thief comes suddenly. A roar startles suddenly. So it will be when Jesus comes.

The justice that seemed so long in coming will come quickly when Jesus comes.

[TS] …

Conclusion

“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

To ask, “Will He find faith on earth?” is the same as asking, “Will Jesus find us praying when He comes?”

Faith demonstrates itself in prayer.

Lawlessness is increasing and the love of many is growing cold.

Let’s not let that happen to us.

Instead, let us pray at all times with heart.

And let us be found praying when He comes.