How can a person persist in prayer when it feels like there is no answer? That’s a great question. To find the answer Jesus offers a parable. Before we dive into Luke 18, I want to ask you a question. What’s the longest you would wait for a meal? We have waited fifty minutes outside of an Olive Garden before. I suppose if you really love that restaurant, you would wait even longer for a meal. I guess in 2019, we don’t wait for anything. Information of any kind can be found on the internet, of course. Need to know how to change the oil on your recently purchased used car? Not a problem. What about clearing a clogged drain? Easy. Do we see our prayer life the same way?
The parable Jesus shares is a bad example. Not that the parable itself is bad, just the character of the judge. Jesus isn’t advocating for judges who care for neither God nor for the people whom they serve. His point is that when this judge finally helps the poor widow who continually comes for aid, it isn’t because he’s doing a good job. The only reason the judge helps is because this widow has beaten him back with her persistent pleas for help. He doesn’t care about the widow, but he’s getting tired of listening to her, so he rules justly.
Our God is not like that judge. Our Heavenly Father LOVES to answer our prayers. He LOVES to hear our prayers. There are three ways that he can answer, but know that he answers every prayer. He can say , YES – NO – or WAIT. The problem with WAIT, is that it sounds an awful lot like NO. Want to hear more about why he answers the way he does? Listen to this week’s message taken from Luke 18: Persist in Prayer.
Book(s): Luke
Tag(s): Prayer
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg