Praying to Win!

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”  Luke 18:1-8

Introduction

I have a confession.  When the Lord first dropped this parable into my lap, I was not ready for it.  In fact, I had spent most of my adult Christian walk avoiding it!

“OH Lord”, I remember thinking, “You’re going to have to show me things about this parable that I haven’t yet seen”.  Why? 

Because in reading the parable on the surface without pausing for a deeper reflection, it didn’t fit with what I knew to be true of God. I had always seen it through a lens that displayed the unjust judge as a picture type of God, making Him sound petty.  And I didn’t want to hear that I needed to nag or beg God to do what scripture said was right.   

Boy, did I ever have it wrong! So, it’s important to note that the unjust judge is not a Christ figure!  He is a crooked judge who is denying justice to the weak and powerless. 

By show of hands, how many of you are familiar with the passage in Ephesians 6 that speaks about putting on the full armor of God?  Someone shout out to me what we’re supposed to do after we have it on?  Yes!  That passage emphasizes it several times. We are to STAND!

What does it mean exactly, to stand?  In military terms it means to “occupy in place” until He comes.  Keep standing! Do not cede ground!

What spiritual ground are you currently standing on?  What is your sphere of influence or what does this look like to you personally – perhaps in your commitment to your marriage or in the lives of your children, in the workplace and in the marketplaces?

Through prayer and actions, we partner with our Lord to take our stand, not allowing the enemy to kill, steal, or destroy what He has given us. (John 10:10)

THIS is what the parable of the persistent widow is all about!  This widow was standing her ground like a dog on a bone, not giving up or giving in.  When we bring this parable forward into today’s culture and society and consider what we as women are now having to face, the sheer magnitude of what’s happening around us can feel overwhelming! 

We’re beginning to realize that there are times in our lives where things look hard, I mean really tough, and we’re having to face that it’s all part of the journey! Can God bring order to our chaos?  YES! When facts slam their fists into our vision, He wants us to focus instead on His truth.

That’s what this parable teaches us – what we can do in the face of an unjust and evil world, especially when it comes knocking at our door. 

It’s so reassuring to know that in God’s eyes, numbers (the size of the enemy’s camp) are never an issue. Every single one of us counts in this fight.  Whether by ourselves or together with others, what we do matters, what we say matters, and we all have an impact.

The Context:

Sincethe unjust judge is not a picture type of God, then who is he a picture type of?  Thinking about it in today’s context I can easily see this crooked judge as being similar to modern-day judges – or school boards – or those who insist we give our children over to the transgender crowd – or those who use social media as a means of peer pressure.  Perhaps the unjust judge represents the big corporations who mandate things against our beliefs, or even a government that no longer represents we the people. 

In short, It’s the “powerful elite”.

Powerful people don’t tend to give up that power or fight for the vulnerable unless it directly benefits them.  This judge continues to deny the widow justice.

But the judge’s pride was no match for the widow’s humility. If anyone is a Christ figure in the parable, it’s her!  In her culture and society, this widow is the lowest on the totem pole when it comes to resources and advocacy.  She, like many women feel today, was not taken seriously.  But she did not care that her persistence was perceived by others as shameless or that they thought she was wasting her time uselessly pounding an “unmovable wall”.

In spite of the judge, she doesn’t give up, and she continues to wear him down. She keeps coming and coming over and over again. Eventually, he gets so tired of hearing her case that he relents and gives her justice.

Know this: God delights in giving justice and mercy, and when He tells us that He will avenge us speedily, He isn’t kidding! When He avenges us, He gives us His peace about the situation.  We can count on a resolution.

If there is any perceived delay in bringing about a just judgement, it is because of what we see in verse 7 (and what is echoed again in 2 Peter 3:9) – In the larger picture over the ages it is the Lord saying, “WHEN I bring justice, I will bring it speedily, but until then, I don’t want anyone to perish!”

And that includes all of us throughout time.

For anyone who may be thinking the parable of the persistent widow is similar to the parable of the persistent neighbor (Luke 11:5–10), you’re right – both parables teach the importance of persistence in prayer with one slight difference, the story of the widow and the judge adds the message of continued faithfulness in prayer not just for a moment but over a lifetime and throughout the ages.

How many of you took note that the parable starts with the word “Then”.  The word “then” indicates to us that chapter 18 is actually a continuation of chapter 17! So, what goes on in chapter 17?

Here we see the people in Jesus’ day asking similar questions. “When is the kingdom coming?” or “When is God going to boot out Rome and give us back the land?” or “When will our Messiah come riding in on a white horse?”  Not exactly those questions but you get the drift.

Essentially the religious leaders of the day were asking questions similar to the persistent widow, in that they wanted to know when they would see God act and bring them justice. Interestingly enough this focus caused them to miss the Rescuer who was right in front of them.

Your Voice Matters:

I want to share something my husband mentioned when I was sharing my thoughts with him on all of this.  His question was “why do you think the unjust judge wanted the persistent widow to just shut up?” 

On the surface we read it’s because she was wearing him down.  Consider, too, that he was getting tired of his authority being challenged. He wants nothing more than for her to go away quietly, but she won’t!

Why is this important?  Because the widow’s voice carried a message that he was unjust, and the judge didn’t want that message to gain traction.  Consider that he knew the power of her voice had the ability to cause his world to crumble and it scared him to death! 

There are times when you’re tired and beaten down. You feel like you have been spiritually gut punched. You’ve been robbed of your joy, your rest, your peace, your energy. Maybe even a loved one, your family or community, or part of your life.  You have a big ol’ spiritual black eye; you are in a beaten and bloodied heap.

You think you should be shaking your fist at the enemy and hollering, “Is that the best you’ve got? Bring it on! THIS GIRL is an OVERCOMER! I am MORE than a conqueror through Christ!!”

But instead, it’s more like collapsing in a heap and crying out to God, “Get me out of here Lord! I can’t take this!! One more thing will send me over the edge.”

Hang on! As much as I enjoy teaching, I know that your breakthrough won’t come from the impact of one standalone lesson or sermon.  Breakthrough comes through consistent prayer.  There is something powerful that takes place when God’s children cry out loud for Him.  It indicates desperation!  There are promises attached to that! 

Jeremiah 33:3 tells us “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”  The Hebrew word for call in this passage is qara, meaning “call, cry, utter a loud sound”

Praise and proclamation of God’s people have echoed powerfully over the ages. 

In Judges 3, Israel had been involved in sin and bad decisions. They were in a bad spot, but they had put themselves there. But in Judges 3:9 it says that they CRIED OUT to the Lord and He sent them a deliverer!

1Samuel 7:9 says that Samuel made a sacrifice and CRIED OUT to the Lord on Israel’s behalf. And the Lord answered him.

In 1 Kings 17:20, Elijah was staying with a widow and her son died. He took the boy up and laid him on the bed and he CRIED OUT to the Lord, and it says, “The Lord heard Elijah’s cry,” and returned life back to the boy.

In Matthew 14: 30-31 we see Peter walking on water. He was going places no one else had been. But then he took his eyes off of Jesus, and he sank. In vs 30 he CRIED OUT, “Lord, SAVE ME!!” And Jesus reached out His hand for Peter and caught him.

There is a story told in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 about King Jehoshaphat gathering the people for prayer before a battle. As the army marched out to face their invaders, men in the front ranks verbally praised God (2 Chron 20:21).  The result? Invading armies turned on themselves, and no one escaped! 

Consider too the Christians in Rome in the early church who were fed to lions or burned at the stake…

WAIT A MINUTE, LISA… before you go there you may want to consider that they died! 

Yes, they did, but I want you to catch the power of their faces set like flint on Jesus and His eternal Kingdom, and how mightily that has resonated through the ages. You may have heard it said that often they would begin to sing as they were marched into the arena.  This caused the Romans great fear because they knew the “even if not” kind of faith in God that was being displayed went far beyond death, that these Christians valued eternity over the temporary circumstances they were facing.  It’s interesting to note that Rome eventually fell, but Christianity lives on today!

Bringing it even closer to home, we see this in our world more and more.  Christians are being persecuted for their faith in Christ because those with an evil agenda don’t want their narrative to be challenged by the truth. 

Think about how during Covid churches in California in particular were told they were not allowed to sing during church gatherings.  Why?  Our kingdom voice of praise sends a message to the enemy that rattles and scares them to death.  It’s a loyalty they cannot comprehend. In fact, the word “proclaim” is noted to be listed over 220 time throughout scripture.

What does all of this tell us? It says your voice matters!

In conclusion:

What are we to make of this passage? There are clues in verse 1 and verse 8.

The first clue in verse 1, Luke tells us specifically that this parable is told: “to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” If an uncaring, unfit, ungodly judge answers with justice in the end, how much more will a loving and holy Father give what is right to His children?

It becomes important to understand that sometimes our prayers are not one and done, and the answers we seek don’t come all at once because God is changing us in the process.  We must come to the place where we become more attached to the unseen (eternal) world more than the seen (temporal) world that is right in front of us. 

Jesus is training us in faith, for the things hoped for that we can’t see.  When our “judge” won’t budge, we build faith as we have the tenacity to keep coming and coming again and again, NOT because of what we see or experience here and now but because of what we know the future holds.

The second clue… the one in verse 8… Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?

As we wait for His return, disciples will be tempted to lose heart and give up. We are tempted to turn to other means of rescue. Prayer can feel so inactive. But this is precisely what Jesus calls us towards, knowing that partnership through prayer and fasting is not a backup plan, it’s a battle plan!  Prayer doesn’t replace action, it inspires action! It’s a knowing that when we work, we work, but when we pray, God works! 

We must be like the persistent widow who knows that justice will only come from this one source, and so she keeps pleading until it happens.

Will we be among God’s people still praying at Christ’s second coming, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done” (Matthew 6:10)? 

Faithful, never-ceasing, persistent prayer is the permanent calling of every true disciple of Christ who is dedicated to living for the Kingdom of God. Like the persistent widow, we are needy and dependent people who trust in our gracious, loving, and merciful God alone to supply what we need. 

And if you think about it, it is this type of prayer that cultivates the oil of intimacy with the Holy Spirit, which ties into the parable of the 10 virgins that we will be learning about in the coming weeks.