Are you already tired of politics? If so, brace yourself for the next 13 months! A constant theme on the news are the debates and their arguments back and forth – who won the debate? Who is stronger in the polls? It’s a long grueling process. But honestly, a lot of what we hear is simply rhetoric.
How would you define rhetoric? It's a skill in the effective use of speech. Most often today rhetoric is the use of speech to convince someone of something but it lacks any kind of action behind it. Synonyms found in Webster’s dictionary include: bombast, grandiloquence, hot air, oratory, verbiage, wind.
This brings up today’s text this morning. It’s about prayer. And the problem of discouragement in prayer. I began asking myself, why do we not pray more? Why are we not people of prayer? It seems that prayer very often viewed as simply rhetoric. Religious language. Nice and proper and we should do it but it doesn’t accomplish much.
Why? We don’t see answers. It seems like wasted time. Nothing really gets accomplished through it. It seems like God isn’t listening.
Our prayers are so often frustrating because enemies are always winning and there is no justice being done. But Jesus wants to encourage us that prayer is not empty wind. It’s not rhetoric. It’s not falling on dead ears.
Jesus tells the story of a widow during the first century. She would have had very little – probably hardly any money or resources. In addition to this hard social situation, she had been victimized by someone – taken advantage of –someone had robbed her. She had no power and no influence to get anyone to do anything about it because she’s simply a poor widow.
But she goes to the judge. This judge is a godless self-centered man. He cares nothing for righteousness. He cares nothing about God or serving others. He cares about himself. So this poor defenseless widow comes to him asking for help – asking for justice. Why should he help her? She can’t do him any favors. If he helps her, how will he be better off. She is just a waste of his time. So he ignores her.
Now the widow does have one weapon, one way in which she can bring this judge to do something. She has persistence. She may not have money, but she has time and will not stop pestering this evil judge until he finally helps her. What does she have to lose? So she comes to his court day after day after day refusing to take no for an answer.
Finally, the judge gives in seeing that he’s better off helping her than listening to her complaints day after day.
This is the story Jesus is telling as a parable.
Now, you might see in this parable God as this wicked judge. He has all the power in his decision – power to make decisions that affect the lives of everyone in his jurisdiction. He has the power to help or to punish with one word lives are changed.
And we might look at this widow and see ourselves – “Why does God care about us? Why would he bother to help little old me? I’m nobody compared to his power and majesty. I’m not a president, a company ceo. I don’t have lots of power and wealth. I haven’t done really much for God compared to others. But if I bother him enough, day and night, he will finally take notice of me and answer my prayer.”
Is this what this parable is telling us? Absolutely NOT! Jesus tells this parable as a contrast to reveal how different our situation is – how much of a BETTER situation we are in.
First of all, yes, God is a judge who has power to protect and condemn. But he is not evil. He is not thinking only about himself and doesn’t want to be bothered. He seeks justice for his citizens no matter who they are.
Remember that the Lord also compares himself to the shepherd who leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. The Scriptures say that our name is written on the palm of his hand (Isa. 49:16) – in other words, your name is constantly on his mind. He’s thinking about you and doesn’t forget or have better things to do.
Secondly, are we as Christians really like this widow? Are we really poor, helpless, powerless, unloved having lost everything? You may feel that way. But reality is very different than that. We are completely different than this widow. We have been bought with a price. We are children of the King! We are not poor beggars but as God’s children, we are supremely precious to Him. We have been purchased with the priceless blood of the Son of God. Nothing is more valuable than that!
So what is Jesus point? He wants us to see that God LONGS to answer our prayers. He LONGS to bring us justice. He CARES for your hardship and needs and anxiously waits to hear from you. When you pray and struggle to bring your petition before God, realize that he is listening and taking action. He’s not ignoring you because you’re unworthy. He’s not busy with someone more important. Your life situation is extremely important to Him.
Let’s look at the promises he gives us here in this parable.
1. He will give justice to his children when they ask for it.
No matter what your experience may be, receive this promise from God as truth. This is a promise of God.
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Psalm 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Psalm 34:10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Psalm 107:6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
Psalm 50:15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."
Psalm 91:15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Here in America we have a lot of debt as we all know. We can’t pay our debts and pay federal employees – but the government owns the mint – the printing presses. So they print more money. And what happens? The value of the dollar plunges. It’s losing value month after month. Many people are investing in solid gold because that has lasting value.
The promises of God’s Word is not like a dollar – it doesn’t lose value. It’s not going to go up or down in value depending on the times. They are pure gold! We hang on to them in thick and thin. No matter what anybody says or thinks about it gold is gold and doesn’t lose it’s innate value. And so are the promises to us from the Word. The question is if we are going to believe and apply God’s promises to our lives? Are we going to live according to them or throw them out as rhetoric?
2. He promises to answer that request quickly and not delay as this wicked judge did because he was self-absorbed.
When you pray, you can be absolutely certain that God’s answer will come exactly on time. Of course, our timing is usually not the same as God’s timing. He may decide that things happen immediately, or he can delay for months or years. That is where faith must take hold: And again, we need to simply trust the promises of God.
Over and over again the Lord commands us to “wait upon Him.” Habakkuk 2:3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! 2 Peter 3:9 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.
We are an impatient people, especially when we see no reason for God to wait to answer our prayers. But still, we stand on the promises and stand on the command to wait because He knows what is best and when it’s best.
God has two qualifiers for these promises.
1. It is necessary for us to pray.
Justice doesn’t come automatically. Look again at verse 1: “ought always to pray.” God has purposely limited his actions of justice to the prayers of his people. If we DON’T pray, justice will not be done.
We return back to the Lord’s Prayer – “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray for the abused, for the poor, for those unfairly treated, for the helpless and hurting. We seek God’s justice through our prayers because that is what God tells us is the way for him to go into action. We don’t take vengeance. We don’t assault our enemies. But we leave that to God. We pray for them and that God would turn them to repentance and faith. That’s the ultimate goal – the best justice of all!
2. Our prayers are to be continual and persistent.
Jesus said in verse one that we ought to “always pray.” And He uses the example in verse seven of the elect who “pray day and night.” It’s not that God doesn’t hear the first time. Certainly he does. Then why should we bring our same requests before God day after day after day? The simple answer is: because God tells us that is what we should do.
God doesn’t always tell us why. But we do see in Scripture incredible fruit through prayer that perseveres. It causes faith to grow and deepen.
Remember when Lazarus died? His sisters, Mary and Martha had pleaded with Jesus to come and heal him. They had sent messengers to tell him to hurry. I would call that persistence. Actually it’s prayer! Did Jesus immediately answer? No. And when he arrived, Lazarus was dead. The sisters were very disappointed with Jesus. “Why didn’t you respond? If only you had been here earlier!”
Jesus HAD heard their request from the very beginning. But he waited in order to bless them and not because he was cruel. He waited so that he could increase their faith. They kept Jesus in a box – they didn’t imagine that he could raise the dead. So Jesus arrived just on time in order to heal Lazarus and give an awesome gift to these sisters that they never would have had if Lazarus had simply recovered from his sickness – a gift of deeper faith and trust.
So he waits sometimes in order to cause our faith to stretch and grow. But also He waits to answer in order to humble us. To reveal that we’re not in control, we’re not God, we don’t know the best way or the best timing. He wants us to say, “There is a God and it’s not ME!”
But God is not ignoring you. He says to us today just like this widow: keep praying! Keep seeking me! I want to encourage you today – pray! Don’t give up on praying! The longer the affliction, the longer the lack of justice, the longer the burden the more persistent should be your prayers. Pray with desperation like this poor widow, pray with expectation knowing the promises of God’s word. Pray with a waiting heart knowing that God has the time in his hands.
