Christian Quotes

Luke 18:1-8

Hopefully you’ll remember that last week I spoke about prayer, about praying until we get an answer. My illustration was from the parable of the friend at midnight: how we need to be like shameless beggars if we really want to receive from God.

Tonight I want to speak about prayer again. This time I want to show that for prayer to be effective it must be UNCEASING. Once again I’ve chosen one of our Lord’s parables as an illustration—this time the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. In this case, Jesus tells us EXACTLY why he is giving this parable: “that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”  And as someone has aptly said, “One thing is certain: IF WE DON’T PRAY, WE WILL FAINT!”

The picture that Jesus paints in this parable would have been quite a familiar one to the Lord’s hearers.  The widow in those days was perhaps the most defenceless person in society. Remember that Jesus in Matt. 23:14 accused the Scribes and Pharisees of “devouring widows houses.”  And James tells us that “pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this, To visit the fatherless and WIDOWS in their affliction. . . .”

Notice our Lord’s characterization of the Judge: He feared not God, neither regarded man.  If we have no fear or love for God, then we have little reverence or respect for our fellowmen.  The story shows that the man had no real interest in dispensing justice.  The man was absolutely lacking in nobility, finesse, and a true sense of justice. He had absolutely no regard for the misfortunes of this widow and the false accusations that were being made against her.  There was nothing good in the man that the widow could appeal to.  Her only hope lay in UNCEASING APPEALS.  She pestered him and bothered him and came back and came back and came back until she received justice.  Every other expedient was gone, except this one of continual appeals.

Note that the word “avenge” here doesn’t mean “REVENGE.”  It’s a legal term and simply means to administer justice.  The widow wasn’t wanting revenge on her adversary, she was merely demanding that justice be done.

In the end, the judge had enough foresight to see that this tenacious little woman wasn’t going to give up until her case was settled, so he might as well act now before she wore him out.  She won her case because of one thing: “HER CONTINUAL COMING.”  The whole point of the parable is this: if an unjust judge, with no fear of God or man, can be moved to avenge the widow purely on the basis of UNCEASING appeals, HOW MUCH MORE will God avenge his own people which cry DAY AND NIGHT unto him.

The words of the judge in verse 5 are very interesting: “Lest by her continual coming she WEARY me.” That word weary in the underlying Greek is a word that means “to beat with blows”—like a boxer. The judge was speaking metaphorically, of course, but he was saying that this widow was so persistent that eventually she was going to wear him out or beat him down like a boxer. It’s all to do with persistence.

There are times when God will withhold the blessing and appear to be acting like the unjust judge. That’s because God is testing us—testing us to see HOW BADLY we want what we are praying for. If we pray a few times and then give up, that tells God that we are not very serious about the matter. He wants to see persistence, determination, earnest desire, desperation. The widow in the parable would have lost everything if she had given up after a few tries. It was her untiring persistence that won the day. But the trouble is that many of us Christians get weary before God does; we too often go away without the blessing because we lack persistence.

The judge in the parable was totally unjust and unscrupulous, but our God is infinitely just and absolutely fair at all times. This widow was a stranger to the judge, but God’s people are His special friends; He cares for them and looks out for them with infinite tenderness and compassion. “How much more shall God avenge His own elect!”

Who do we need to be avenged of? Who is our adversary? The Bible teaches that during this present age Satan is the Christian’s chief adversary—he is the Prosecutor General against all believers.  In fact, that’s what the name Satan actually means—adversary. He constantly appears in court accusing God’s children.  Rev. 12:10 says that he is “THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN.” 1 Peter 5:8 calls him “YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL.”  An adversary is someone who accuses in a court of law.  This widow asked to be avenged of her adversary.  Believers need to be avenged of their adversary Satan.

In the first place, we need to make sure that Satan has no grounds for his accusations; in other words, we need to keep our lives free from all known sin.  Secondly, we need to make sure that we make PLENTY OF APPEARANCES IN COURT. Despite the fact that we have Jesus Christ as an Advocate, we also need to appear in court personally. In other words, we need to plead our cause in constant prayer.  If we don’t make our appearances in court, the case may go against us by default; that’s the peril of the prayerless Christian.

It’s always important to look at the larger context of any text or passage so that we can find out the true meaning and application of what is being taught.  Sometimes we’re hindered from seeing the full context because of chapter divisions.  This parable begins chapter 18 of Luke’s Gospel and so we are tempted to take it in isolation from what goes before.

In verse 20 of chapter 17 the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come and the rest of the chapter gives a sort of synopsis of the church age.  Jesus shows that He Himself will be rejected and a period of spiritual darkness will set in, during which time the church will be a persecuted remnant.  Just before His return, conditions will be very similar to the days of Noah and Sodom–dark days indeed.  Then He goes on to describe the rapture.

And then immediately after this description of the progression of evil and darkness Jesus gives this parable of the widow and the judge.  It seems that Jesus is comparing the position of the church in the last days to the position of this widow–defenseless and vulnerable in a world of darkness and wickedness.  And just like the widow, the church’s only hope in such a situation is UNCEASING PRAYER.

Notice that at the end of the parable, Jesus asks the question, “When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”  In other words, Jesus is wondering whether, when He comes back at the end of the age, he’s going to find a church who have the same kind of faith as this widow–persistent faith, unceasing faith, faith that can see a light at the end of the tunnel (be it ever so small) and won’t give up.  It’s this kind of faith that will be absolutely necessary as evil progresses and we get nearer and nearer to the dark days just prior to the Lord’s return.

The Bible has a lot to say about UNCEASING PRAYER.  In closing, I’d  like to quickly read through a collection verses on this subject.

Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, ALWAYS labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Col 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, DO NOT CEASE to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Ps 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
Ro 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; CONTINUING INSTANT in prayer;
Eph 6:18 Praying ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all PERSEVERANCE and supplication for all saints;
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in EVERY THING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
1Th 5:17 Pray WITHOUT CEASING.
Lu 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

May the Lord help each of us to pray without ceasing.

Amen.