WHY IS THIS PARABLE ENCOURAGING? It’s good to know that Jesus understands that we struggle with persistence in prayer.
- Luke 18:1.
- Let’s start with one of two pieces of encouraging news that this parable gives to us. It’s right there in the first verse: Jesus knows that praying can be difficult.
- It feels good just to say it out loud.
- There are few people who would say that they feel like they are pretty advanced in their prayer lives. For most, the problems are at the other end. We feel like we’re not that good at it. We feel like sometimes we are a little lost while we are seeking Him. We feel like we’re not sure if He’s always listening.
- For all of us on that end, here is some good news: Jesus knows we struggle.
- Verse 1 gives Jesus’ motive for sharing this parable. He wants His disciples to know that they should keep praying and not give up.
- Just hearing Him say that leads us to think, “Hey, maybe I’m not the only one who feels inadequate in my prayer life.” After all, He probably wouldn’t have bothered to share this parable if praying was easy and we didn’t need any encouragement in this.
- This is reminiscent of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says, “This then is how you should pray.” He knows we need some basic instruction. If praying was easy then He wouldn’t have to provide basic guidance. There is no section titled “Here is how to breathe.”
THE PARABLE'S POINT: If persistence gets results with an unjust judge, how much more with God?
- Luke 18:2-7.
- This is a parable about persistence in prayer. Let’s go piece by piece.
- Effective prayer requires persistence.
- We started with some good news under the first point. Now let’s pick up with some news that's not as great.
- It would be good in some ways if prayer just required us to ask once and then we would get a response telling us if and when our petition will be granted. (We’ll get into the biggest negative with that hypothetical system in our final point this evening.) But we all know that prayer does not work like that.
- Jesus is encouraging His disciples to be persistent in prayer because persistence is required for regular results to our prayers.
- On rare occasions we might ask and get an immediate answer, but most of the time we have to keep after it. This may be days, weeks, months, years, or decades. It’s not easy.
- But it is necessary if we want to see results.
- We will talk more about this but let me just briefly note reasons why there may be a delay that have nothing to do with an apathetic or indifferent God:
a. There are circumstances that need to come together.
b. Someone is refusing to do God’s will.
c. The timing isn’t right yet.
d. God is maturing you by making you wait some.
- That's not exhaustive but it gives you an idea.
- The point is that most situations are not ones where God can just immediately provide an answer. There are other factors in play.
- What’s the point of the unjust judge story?
- The reality is that persistence in prayer is required. Jesus tells a parable to encourage us in that direction.
- There is an unjust judge who isn’t going to help this needy widow just because it’s the right thing to do. She annoys him daily with her pleas. He gets fed up and grants her what she desires just to shut her up.
- The point is that persistence gets results even with a judge who isn’t righteous or just.
- We are then to contrast that with the results when we pray to a Heavenly Judge who is righteous and just. If we got results through persistence in the worst situation, don’t you think we will get good results when we are talking to someone who represents a great situation?
- The point is not that we are annoying God.
- The point that God just wants to shut us up.
- The point is not that God will give us what we want to get us to leave Him alone.
- The point is that persistence works.
- This should encourage us greatly as we pray.
- Jesus has told us who we are praying to. Jesus has told us the type of reception we should expect. Jesus has told us what God thinks of us.
- What can we expect from God?
- He will listen. He will help us. He will respond.
WHAT ABOUT WHEN THE ANSWER DOESN'T COME "QUICKLY"? Is it (a) a wrong request, (b) a persistence moment, or (c ) growing in your faith?
- Luke 18:8a.
- I want to take a brief detour to answer a question that may be in some of the minds that are here.
- In v. 8 it says that God will answer “quickly.” We’ve all seen that happen, but we’ve also all seen times when the answer is delayed. I think it’s worth talking for a minute about why that might happen.
- I’m going to limit myself to three comments:
a. It might be a wrong request.
- Sometimes we ask for something that is not in our best interest or the best interest of the person we are praying for. God, in His love for us, declines to give us what we’re asking for.
- Think of the mess we’d be in if God gave us everything we asked for right when we asked for it.
b. It might be a persistence moment.
- Sometimes the prayer request is one that requires persistence.
- It might be a prayer for salvation for a loved one and God isn’t going to override that person’s free will, so you have to keep praying until the “yes” comes.
- It might be a prayer for a resolution to a complicated situation with multiple parts. The answer you’re seeking might require another part of the answer to come first and so persistence is required.
- It might be a prayer for a person to walk away from harmful sin in their lives. But they aren’t going to walk away until the consequences fully hit them and then they have time to dwell in that mess for a while and that process hasn’t concluded yet.
- The bottom line is that some prayer requests require time.
c. It might be about growing in your faith.
- We’re going to talk in the next point about faith but right now I just want to make one small point about it. Faith is like a muscle - it doesn’t grow unless you’re exercising it. Toward that end, God may allow us to have to exercise that spiritual faith muscle to help us to grow spiritually stronger.
WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMES BACK: This parable highlights the importance that Jesus puts on faith.
- Luke 18:8b.
- This leads us to the final point. This is something that I think is easy to overlook.
- At the end of the parable, Jesus at the end of v. 8 asks an important question: “. . . when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” I think a lot of people read it as a throwaway line to finish the passage, but I think it’s a line that gives us insight into Jesus’ heart.
- This whole parable has been about being persistent and having faith that God will answer. As previously stated, that leads us toward God being quicker to answer than the unjust judge.
- The parable as a whole, though, points us toward the importance of faith. And this final line points to the fact that Jesus thinks faith is really important.
- How so? It tells us when Jesus returns that He is going to be looking for faith. That means it’s important to Him. It means it’s something He wants us developing.
- Why is this so? Because what God wants to do in this world is much bigger than what we can accomplish on our own. It requires God’s power. And we access God’s power by faith.
- I have noted before that faith is the condition of answered prayer most mentioned by Jesus.
- Faith-filled prayers get answers that faithless prayers don’t get.
- Many people don’t believe this. They think God answers all prayers the same. That's not true. Faith makes a difference.
- And that's why Jesus is looking for faith when He returns.
