1And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" 6 And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:1-8)
Several people recently have shared with me that they are enduring a season of discouragement in prayer. They have prayed so long for some good thing—perhaps the salvation of a loved one, a reconciled relationship, or respite from a long illness—but no answer comes. A common temptation during such times is to try to drum up an explanation, or worse, give up. Why pray when it appears that for whatever reason God doesn’t want to help?
There is good evidence that the best course in times of discouragement is to remind ourselves of the character of God and to persist in prayer. Jesus' teaching from Luke 18 is particularly helpful in this regard.
What a blessing when a passage tells us the main point right up front! That’s what Luke does in 18:1. “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” It would take a world-class blunder to misinterpret this parable after reading that verse. We should pray persistently, constantly, and not give up.
Likely, none of us are blown away by such a revelation. We know we should pray persistently. It’s "the why part" that we’re struggling with. What’s the use…if it’s not going to do anything?
Well, the parable does not accept our premise that a long wait means no answer is coming. In fact, the parable would deny the notion, “there is no use…” There is a wonderful "why" behind the instruction to pray persistently.
The parable compares and contrasts a wicked judge with our good God. This bad judge gave justice out of exasperation because of the persistence of the widow. If even a bad judge will answer a persistent request, how much more will God do so, who loves us (18:6-7)? Jesus affirms, “He will give justice to them speedily” (18:8). We can pray always and without losing heart because He is good, desiring to hear our prayers and to take care of us.
Yet, verse 8 may be where some of us check out in our prayers. We see the word “speedily” and conclude that something is wrong with our prayer…or something is wrong with God…or we just stop praying without thinking deeply about any of it. However, consider that what may be “speedily” to you is not “speedily” to God. "He is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient..." (2 Pet 3:8-9).
Consider also that God has an impeccable sense of timing (Rom 5:6; Gal 4:4). He never does things too soon, nor too late. He’s always right on time. Do you believe that? It can be helpful to meditate not only on the goodness and lovingkindness of our Father, but also upon His perfect timing. He is always right on time.
Luke seems to anticipate our tendency to think that God is not answering “speedily” enough. After all, what was the main point? It was that we should always pray and not lose heart. “Not lose heart” implies that there will be times when God does not answer as soon as we would like. Perhaps we should trust Him with the job of interpreting and applying the word “speedily,” while we take it as our responsibility – and joy – to always pray and not lose heart.
What great petition have you been bringing before the Lord recently that has yet to be answered? Are you tempted to give up? Don’t do it! Pray always and don’t lose heart. A delayed answer should not be considered an automatic “no.” For those who belong to Christ, a delayed answer can only mean two things: “not yet” or “I have something better” (Rom 8:28-30). The One who hears us is not deaf or paralyzed. He’s wise, loving, and all-powerful. He’ll act at the right time and in the best way. So be encouraged and persist in prayer!
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