Luke 18:1-8 We Ought Always to Pray and Not Lose Heart

We Ought Always to Pray and Not Lose Heart

Luke 18:1-8

Introduction: This parable is typically called “The Parable of the Persistent Widow.” I like studying parables. We typically think the message is simple to see, which can throw us off track from Jesus’ greater intention. Also, in reading a parable, we often overlook Jesus’ purpose to reveal a deeper message to an audience who are not strong seekers. Jesus is attempting to stir their dullness and discover the riches of God. Therefore, a parable screams, “Look again!” 

As we read this parable, our thought is that the message is about prayer and the persistence of prayer. But of greater importance is this is a parable about God and one’s estimation of God during the most difficult times. We think, and would readily say, that we have a high estimation of God. But how often have you felt like the woman in this parable? We come back repeatedly in prayer seeking to be vindicated for injustice we are suffering, but there seems to be no answer. Soon, we quit “beating on God’s door.” And that response harms us deeply because the next time we need to be relieved of injustice, we simply default to our own attempts to solve the problem because, we reason, “why go to God? He obviously is not that concerned about these matters.”

1. Introductory Observations
   1. We begin by highlighting two verses, verse 1 and verse 8. In verse 1, Jesus tells us upfront the purpose of the parable: we “ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Verse 8, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
   2. These verses bookend the message of the parable. Jesus is urging his people that the answer to losing heart or “growing faint,” is prayer. What goes between that statement and verse eight is the concern that when he returns, will he find the faith in God extended by prayer, or will his people grow weary and lose heart? Will they “faint” on the way?
   3. To fully understand the text, we must connect it to the previous setting.
      1. In chapter 17, Jesus has been preparing the disciples for the coming judgment on Jerusalem. Though we might reason that the context therefore does not apply to us, we must always know that every “judgment” throughout scripture carries the same warnings and the need for preparation. 
      2. The connection between 17 and the beginning of 18 are fairly clear. Jesus speaks of the days coming on Jerusalem are like the days of Noah and the days of Lot. Life is going on as usual and there is nothing notable or threatening until it is too late. Jesus states in verse 30, “so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” In the midst of these judgment warnings, Jesus warns about how a person is living his life when the Son of Man comes/revealed —“whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.” With that, we can make the connection to 18:8 where Jesus again refers to his coming.
   4. Considerations:
      1. There is a big picture contrast between those who live for themselves in the world and those who are preparing for the Lord’s return. Do you see the difference? Those who are of the world live for the present time with no consideration of the imminent judgment. They are eating and drinking and marrying as if they will live happily ever after. But on that very day, they will all be destroyed.
      2. But the opposite is taking place with those who are seeking the return of the Lord. Those forsake their goods and flee as the Lord commanded. The followers of Jesus are not living the easy life, nor unprepared. Their lives are like the woman seeking justice with an unrighteous judge. It is not that Christians never have good times, but a Christian whose goal is having an easy life enjoying earthly abundance does not fit descriptions of the righteous in scripture. The Christian life has always been lived in the presence of powerful forces that are opposed to it. Followers of Christ remain even today as the most persecuted in the world. This is the reason Jesus proclaims that a disciple “ought always to pray and not lose heart.”  
      3. Therefore, the Lord has given us two choices: it is either prayer or fainting and losing heart. Therefore, if one is fainting, he is not praying. And if he is praying, he is not fainting! Why is that true?
         1. For one, if he is praying, he is trusting! He knows the Lord and keeps his focus on God’s word and God’s promises. That’s why he prays!
         2. Second, the one who prays knows that it is the Lord who gives justice and he will never succeed by his own wisdom or strength. 
         3. There is a third reason for following the Lord’s command. We owe it to God, we owe it to our family, we owe it to the world in which we shine as lights, and we owe it to ourselves to pray and not faint! 
2. The Judge and the Widow
   1. The judge is a reflection of the world around us. The very person that should be just and should give justice, is unjust! Therefore, we again see a revelation of a disciple in the midst of crooked and evil generation as Jesus often described it. This judge did not care about God, but even more surprising, he did not care about the condition of the weakest person in his jurisdiction, a woman alone, a widow abused, with no other option. 
   2. Now look at the widow. What does she do about her predicament? The beauty of this woman is that she understands that the judge is the only possibility of receiving justice. There is no other. So she keeps coming to the judge. She will not stop. She will not give up. She will not lose heart or grow faint! She just keeps coming.
   3. And what does the judge do? “For a while he refused.” He won’t do anything for her. In other words, this judge is not going to be bullied into doing anything he doesn’t want to do. But finally, after a period of time, and I would assume a fairly long period, the judge does something no one expects; he gives her justice. But why? Well it isn’t because he cares about her! No, he cares about himself. Look at his words, “lest she beat me down by her continual coming.” Note the word “beat.” It means just that. This woman is beating him! She’s bruising him! The Greek is, “to strike one upon the parts beneath the eye; to beat black and blue.” Do you feel sorry for this judge! A little, weak widow is beating him black and blue. And now he is the one who wants relief! Ha! The tables are turned.
3. What Is Jesus Teaching?
   1. Most of you have heard the interpretation before. It is said that Jesus is telling us to do just what this woman was doing. When you don’t get an answer to your prayer, just keep asking and knocking until he finally answers. For sure, it is not wrong to ask the Lord more than once. Paul asked three times for his thorn to be removed. But just as in Luke 11, that is not the teaching of the parable.
   2. The teaching is that there is a contrast between the judge and the Lord! How dare us go to God in prayer thinking that he is like this judge who does not care about anyone but himself, and therefore will only respond if you badger him. Indeed, how many times have you heard someone say, or maybe even thought it yourself, “I don’t need to bother the Lord with this request. After all, he’s really busy!” Ha! How foolish. That attitude is exactly what the Lord is urging us not to do. 
   3. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” 
   4. Do we realize that God has bound himself to do for us the very things that this judge would not do? God’s very character makes it impossible for him to ignore us. He made a promise to us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” But this promise can only be answered if we pray. Otherwise, we are trusting ourselves. 1 Peter 5:7
   5. Again, look at the difference between the judge and God. The judge delays. Nothing in his being requires him to help. He acts to save himself. But God will not delay to give justice because of his elect. How could God not give justice to those whom he has chosen?
      “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32 ESV)
   6. Now, what of the elect? What are they doing? They “cry to him day and night.” That is not badgering and beating on God like the widow did the judge.
      1. Jesus is teaching the same thing Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” 
      2. Jesus uses this parable to teach us that we ought always to pray. We are to always pray, not because God answers when we are persistent, but because he is always listening and always ready to give justice.
   7. Consider! What happens when we do what the Lord has taught here? Oh my! What contentment! What joy! What peace! When we pray and never cease to pray, there is no fainting; there is no losing heart!
      “…but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)

Conclusion: Note Jesus’ final words, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” There are two lessons: 

• Jesus has circled back to his coming. When he returns, will he find his elect continuing to pray and trust and put their lives and needs in the Lord’s hands? Or will they faint?
• That brings us to the second message. For Jesus to make this parable such a priority in his teaching, sends a strong message of the troubles his people must endure before that day comes. We are so often at ease and confident that tomorrow will be no different. How foolish we are in those thoughts. Jesus is warning. Times will come that will bring us to the brink of fainting and losing heart. There is one answer: “we ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

Berry Kercheville

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