In Luke 18, Jesus was walking with his disciples heading to Jerusalem, teaching them as he went. In the first section of chapter 18, Jesus tells them a parable to teach them about prayer, encouraging them in verse 1 to, “…always pray and not lose heart.”
To pray is like breathing for a Christian, it is essential for our life. Without prayer, we will lose heart, we will grow spiritually weak.
Unless we are sick with a lung infection or drowning, we rarely think about our breathing; we just do it. Likewise with prayer, it should be the natural habit of our lives, the breath we breathe for our spiritual life.
Prayer is more than saying words, it is a deep relationship with God, our heart is constantly aware of the presence of our Lord.
To illustrate his teaching, Jesus uses what seems to be a confusing parable. Jesus uses the story of a desperate widow and an unrighteous judge to illustrate the need for prayer.
But in order to understand this parable, we must understand that God is not represented by the judge, and in the same way, you and I are not represented by the poor widow. They are both extreme contrasts, Jesus is using hyperbole to make his point.
The circuit judge of the first century would not hear everyone’s case, rather, he would choose who he would hear, and in many cases his decision was precipitated by a bribe of some sort.
Jesus is stating the contrast between the judge and our Heavenly Father. God is not like this judge. God is loving and generous, and He is intimately aware of our needs before we bring them to Him. God doesn’t need to be persuaded to hear His children’s pleas; He answers prayers because it is for His glory.
But what about the poor widow in the parable?
Widows seldom got justice and were treated poorly by the culture. Jesus was making a contrast between this widow and the position of believers.
Let’s look at five contrasts between our situation and this parable. Our standing and hers.
The point that Jesus makes so clearly is that if we don’t take advantage of the invitation to pray, spiritually, we will be just like this poor widow. We are invited to the throne of grace in prayer.
In contrast with the unrighteous judge, God is infinitely good and infinitely just (see Luke 18:7).
God chose you, not to abandon you or to ignore you in your time of need, He is always near as He promises in His word.
As Jesus concludes this parable, he makes it clear that it is all about faith. Luke 18:8b reads, “…nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Jesus is asking us the same question today; will he find faith in us?
In Luke 18, Jesus was walking with his disciples heading to Jerusalem, teaching them as he went. In the first section of chapter 18, Jesus tells them a parable to teach them about prayer, encouraging them in verse 1 to, “…always pray and not lose heart.”
To pray is like breathing for a Christian, it is essential for our life. Without prayer, we will lose heart, we will grow spiritually weak.
Unless we are sick with a lung infection or drowning, we rarely think about our breathing; we just do it. Likewise with prayer, it should be the natural habit of our lives, the breath we breathe for our spiritual life.
Prayer is more than saying words, it is a deep relationship with God, our heart is constantly aware of the presence of our Lord.
To illustrate his teaching, Jesus uses what seems to be a confusing parable. Jesus uses the story of a desperate widow and an unrighteous judge to illustrate the need for prayer.
But in order to understand this parable, we must understand that God is not represented by the judge, and in the same way, you and I are not represented by the poor widow. They are both extreme contrasts, Jesus is using hyperbole to make his point.
The circuit judge of the first century would not hear everyone’s case, rather, he would choose who he would hear, and in many cases his decision was precipitated by a bribe of some sort.
Jesus is stating the contrast between the judge and our Heavenly Father. God is not like this judge. God is loving and generous, and He is intimately aware of our needs before we bring them to Him. God doesn’t need to be persuaded to hear His children’s pleas; He answers prayers because it is for His glory.
But what about the poor widow in the parable?
Widows seldom got justice and were treated poorly by the culture. Jesus was making a contrast between this widow and the position of believers.
Let’s look at five contrasts between our situation and this parable. Our standing and hers.
The point that Jesus makes so clearly is that if we don’t take advantage of the invitation to pray, spiritually, we will be just like this poor widow. We are invited to the throne of grace in prayer.
In contrast with the unrighteous judge, God is infinitely good and infinitely just (see Luke 18:7).
God chose you, not to abandon you or to ignore you in your time of need, He is always near as He promises in His word.
As Jesus concludes this parable, he makes it clear that it is all about faith. Luke 18:8b reads, “…nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Jesus is asking us the same question today; will he find faith in us?