The Power of Persistence

Have any of you heard of the movie “Rudy”? It was one of my favorite movies when I was in Jr. High. No, it’s not a movie of the life and decent of former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani. This movie, made in 1993 and starring Sean Astin (that’s Samwise Gamgee to some of you and Bob from Stranger Things to others) as the title character is a true story about a young man’s dream to play football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The problem was that he wasn’t smart enough to get into University and he wasn’t athletically talented enough, or even big enough, to play football.

But with lots of hard work, perseverance and a ton of heart, he was able to overcome the obstacles in his way and make his dream come true. He only played for two plays in the final game in his last season, but for him, and for the team, it was enough.

Persistence is an important character trait for our lives. Napoleon Hill, early 20th Century author author of “Think and Grow Rich”, said, “Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”

Without a sense of persistence in our lives, we will find ourselves quitting everything when it gets hard. Conflict with your boss or co-workers? Quit. University too hard or too boring? Quit. You fight all the time in your marriage? Quit.

And I admit, there is a place where you are in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong way and you should quit. But for most things in our life, when we experience discomfort, frustration and setbacks, too many of us quit and what we may not realize is that each time we quit something because it is hard, we establish a pathway to make quitting the next thing even easier until soon, we just bounce from job to job, from relationship to relationship and from church to church.

God honors persistence and in the parable that Jesus teaches us today, we are going to see that there is power in persistence. So join with me in reading Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1–8 NIV

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 what people thought. 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 what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” 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?”

Would you pray with me?

This parable is one that can be a little confusing to the casual reader and I say that because it confused me for a while. Sometimes, we make the mistake of applying the same rules of interpretation to different things. For example, when Jesus teaches on the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13, he explains what means what. The seed is the word, the rocky ground are people without root, the good soil are those who accept the word, etc.

Some people will then take the principle of “this means that” and apply it to all the other parables. The problem is that this doesn’t work, especially here in this parable. If we interpret it like that here, then I guess we are supposed to be nagging people who annoy God and God is like an unjust, faithless judge. But God is not the judge in this parable and we are not the woman. Jesus is using a form of argument that moves from the minor to the major. The idea is that if the lesser case is valid, then a greater case must also be valid.

But what is Jesus trying to teach us here? While the main idea is obviously about being persistent in prayer, here are three things that Jesus teaches us about prayer from this parable.

Pray with Persistence

The first one is that we need to pray with persistence.

Luke 18:1 NIV

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

This is the main point of the parable. But why does Jesus want to teach them about persistence in prayer here, at this point in Luke’s narrative? Because in the previous chapter, he told them about how the kingdom of God is still coming. If you have been tracking with us during this season of lent, you may remember how, back in January, I talked about what theologians call the “already but not yet” nature of the kingdom. By that we mean that at the birth of Jesus, a new kingdom emerged, with him as it’s King. When Jesus was baptized and began his ministry, he preached about this new Kingdom that had come. But there is a day still to come when Jesus comes back and the kingdom will come in its fullness. It’s already, but not yet.

In chapter 17, Jesus reminded them that the fullness is still coming. He was preparing his disciples to be fully present to the world around them and to hold on to his return. Well, he still hasn’t returned yet, so that applies to us. In some ways, it’s like COVID. A year ago, we declared a pandemic and shut down life as we knew it to try to stop it. Since then, we keep having this idea of “when COVID is over, then I’m going to do this, or do that.” In fact, let’s indulge that a little right now. If you are watching online, put in the chat “When COVID is over, I’m going to” and finish the sentence. Covid has caused for us to long for a day that is ahead of us.

In the same way, the return of Jesus and the coming of the fullness of the kingdom causes us to look ahead. And, just as each setback and lockdown discourages us, there was potential for the disciples to lose heart and give up praying because the Kingdom was always just ahead of them. So Jesus tells them this parable to show them they should keep on praying. Keep praying that the Kingdom comes and that the Lord’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

And I wonder if that is a good word for us. Have you been praying for something for a while? Is there a person or a situation that you have been praying for and it feels like nothing is happening? Jesus’ word to his disciples is a word to us: keep on praying! Don’t give up. I first chose to become a follower of Jesus when I was around nineteen or twenty. And I was the only one in my family who went to church. And when I say the only one, I mean the only one. No grandparents, no aunts or uncles, no cousins, not even my parents went to church unless someone got married. It took almost 20 years of praying, and now, I have a cousin-in-law who goes to a great church in BC, I have prayed out loud with my grandparents and my aunt, and my mother comes to church with me regularly. I feel less alone now in my faith but it took 20 years of praying for it it happen. God calls us to persevere in our prayers.

In the Old Testament, Israel had a King who was considered more wicked than any other king who had gone before him. His name was Ahab (no, not the guy from Moby Dick). So God raised up a prophet named Elijah to challenge and punish this King who did evil. Elijah prophesied to Ahab that there would be a drought and for three years, there was. Then God told him to go back to Ahab, and confront him about his idol worship, led by the prophets of Baal. After defeating the prophets, Elijah prayed for rain. But nothing happened. It was a clear day. Seven times, Elijah prayed to God and then, in the distance, a small cloud appeared. And it grew and soon a deluge appeared. The fact that it didn’t happen right away, but that Elijah had to persevere in his prayers is because sometimes the answer is just ahead of you and if you keep going, you are going to see that answer.

And sometimes the answer is farther ahead than you can ever see. When God promised Abraham that he would inherit the land of Canaan, the fulfillment of that promise didn’t happen for over 400 years. You need to keep on praying because your answers might come to your children, your grandchildren or even their grandchildren. God looks at time so differently than we do. We have to keep on praying because the answer might be just ahead of you, like it was for Elijah, or it could be way ahead of you like it was for Abraham. But just because we can’t see God answering it, it doesn’t mean we should quit. Keep bringing it to the Lord and trust him - really trust him - to answer it his way in his time.

We are called to be persistent in our prayers. That’s the main thing that Jesus wants us to see in this parable. But, this parable also teaches us to pray with confidence.

Pray with Confidence

The woman in the parable went to the judge without any helpful resources, but because she was persistent and because she was confident, she got the justice she needed. To help us understand this a bit more, we need to see the court system more like it was in Jesus’ day.

In that time, the court was not a building in the centre of your town where an impartial judge tried cases. In that time, the judge moved from town to town and he set the agenda. Often seated above everyone else, he had his assistants around him, and they often approved which cases the judge saw that day. Most people would bribe the assistant to get their case heard because you didn’t know when the judge would be back.

Now, this woman in Jesus’ parable had three things going against her. First, she was a woman, which in that patriarchal time meant she had little to no standing in the court. In those days, a woman simply did not go to court. Second, she was a widow. That meant she didn’t have a husband to represent her or legitimize her complaint. Third, as a widow, she was most likely poor. That meant she had no money to bribe the assistant to get her case heard. She had everything against her. The only thing she had going for her was a sense of persistence and confidence that her claim for justice was justified. And that was enough.

Remember, Jesus isn’t comparing his disciples to her. He’s not saying that she represents us. He is arguing from the minor to the major. If even this woman, with everything against her could get justice from the unrighteous and uncaring judge, then how much more will God answer our prayers.

She had no advocate for her - she was alone. But we have an advocate. In fact, we have two.

1 John 2:1 NIV

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

We have Jesus to be our advocate, who, through his death and resurrection became the bridge between God our Father and us. He is at the right hand of God, interceding for you. We also have the Holy Spirit - God who dwells in those of us who have put our faith in Jesus. In John 14:26 he is called the Advocate and in Romans 8:26 it says,

Romans 8:26 NIV

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

She had no advocate, we have two. She had no power or authority, we have both.

Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We have the mighty power of God within us, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. We are not impotent people, we are powerful people who do mighty things in the power of God to the glory of God.

We also have authority. Ephesians 2:6 says,

Ephesians 2:6 NIV

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Father, which is a place of authority and we are seated there with him. We have authority to cast out demons, to resist the devil and to pronounce God’s forgiveness on those who repent. We are the sons and daughters of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The woman had no power or authority. We have both in spades.

But what she did have, was persistence and confidence. And I fear that too many of us are lacking in these key character traits. The author of Hebrews calls us to approach God with boldness, with confidence, not based on what we have done, but based on what Jesus has done.

Hebrews 10:19–22 NIV

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

It is a good thing to come to God with boldness. Not with the kind of boldness that seeks to bend God to your will, but with a faith that knows that God is listening. The unrighteous judge didn’t love or care about the woman. But our God loves you deeply and he desires that you come before him with humble confidence.

This parable of Jesus teaches us to pray with persistence and confidence. Finally, it teaches us to pray with faith

Pray with Faith

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

In our passage, Jesus challenges us to be a people of faith.

Luke 18:7–8 NIV

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?”

I sometimes wonder how much faith is needed in our prayers. Are we praying prayers that are future oriented, that are bigger than we could accomplish on our own, that require God to step in and do what only he can do? Or are our prayers weak and faithless? As a youth pastor for many years, one prayer I hear often from students was, “I pray that this person would have a good day.” I mean, what kind of prayer is that? That is a wish, not a prayer. You haven’t actually asked God to do anything! But, these are teenagers and they are just learning to pray. But, church, some of you pray like that too. You pray in ways that don’t require God to show up. Your prayers are safe and small when God is calling you to pray with persistence, confidence and faith.

But faith in what? First, faith in the goodness of God. Jesus describes the judge as someone who didn’t fear God, who didn’t care about people and who is unjust. This is done to imply a contrast with God. Where the judge was not a good person, God is the ultimate good. The Psalmist declared that

Psalm 119:68 NIV

You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.

Throughout the Bible, we are told over and over again that God is good. But if we are being honest, some of you may feel differently. Maybe you brought some prayers to God and he didn’t answer them the way you wanted, or maybe even at all. And that led to extreme disappointment and disillusionment, which made you doubt the goodness of God. And if that happened to you, I am so sorry for what you lost. But I would say that God is not accountable to your definition of goodness. He is above us and he defines what is good and right and he always does what is right, even if it hurts us.

My daughter just had her wisdom teeth removed this past week. The dental surgeon had to break each of her four teeth in order to remove them. She has been in pain all week because of it. But just because she experienced pain, it doesn’t make him a bad surgeon. And in the same way, God is not bad or evil because he answered your prayers differently than you hoped. He is the definition of good and we can trust in his goodness.

In addition to his goodness, we can put our faith in the sovereignty of God.

Psalm 135:6 NIV

The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.

The sovereignty of God is his rule and reign in the universe. It is the reality that God has a pre-determined plan for how life is going to go and he is working to make that plan happen. While there are things that happen that break God’s heart, like cancer, heartbreaks and sin, God is using all those things to lead us towards the coming of his Kingdom in all its fullness.

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

We can trust that God, in his omniscience, knows all that is going to happen and in his sovereignty, will use it to his glory. Faith in his sovereignty helps us to look at all that is going in our lives and in the world and stay hopeful that God is still ruling over it all, moving us towards that glorious day. Jesus’ goal with this parable is to remind us that no matter how it looks, no matter what is happening in our lives and in our world, we can’t give up praying because God is still in control and he is sovereignly moving us towards the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The last thing Jesus says at the end of this parable is “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” It’s a rhetorical question, obviously, and it should cause us to evaluate the way we pray. Are we praying with persistence, confidence and faith for the kingdom of God to come on earth as it is in Heaven? Maybe today is the day to make a shift in how you pray. Move beyond the childhood prayers and pray with power and persistence. After all, if the widow, who had no power, wealth or authority could get justice from the unjust, uncaring and ungodly judge, then how much more will our good and faithful God answer the prayers of his elect, of his children, whom he loves?

Let’s pray.