50 Days of Prayer for Fellowship CRC
Lk. 18:1-8 – “Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart...”
Yesterday we joined the psalm writer who found themselves asking God, “How long?” Today Jesus points us to a widow in need of justice to find out.
The context of this curious little parable is about the return of Jesus (17:30; 18:8), the day we so eagerly desire yet must keep waiting for (17:22-23). Jesus did not want his followers to “lose heart” (become discouraged; grow faint) as they waited prayerfully for his return. In the meantime, in this life, there will be many situations in which we need what only God can provide, including the need for justice. Jesus says, keep faith, don’t give up, don’t give up praying, keep faith until he returns. Learn persistence in prayer from this widow, who will be answered.
In the parable, the one who can provide justice is evil—but God is good. The sense of that analogy, which is intentionally ironic, is what Jesus explained more clearly in Matthew 7:10-11, “If your child asked for a fish, would give a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
The best illustration of this parable in the Bible is in Ephesians 3:13, where Paul encourages the Ephesians not to “lose heart” as they hear of the sufferings he endured for his preaching. Then he launches into one of the most exemplary prayers in the New Testament, a prayer worth praying every day until the Lord returns!
Good examples today of this kind of faithful prayer include Open Doors who keep us informed to pray for the worldwide persecuted church, and a group of Palestinian Christians called Sabeel, who every week hold online prayer services and send out prayer reminders for the Holy Land and its people. I marvel at the faithfulness and perseverance in prayer of groups like these.
But the best example I see of this parable is the faithful women of our church community, many of them single women, some of them widows, who not only pray faithfully but pursue justice persistently. I thank God for these women!
“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Add your yes to Jesus’ question, and keep on praying!
So we pray,
Keep us faithful, Lord, until your return! In the meantime, help us to be persistent in prayer for those who need justice. You are asking us to pray, so we pray. Come Lord Jesus! Amen.