The Persistent Widow

Luke 18:1-8

Are you a persistent person or one who gives up easily?  Parents and teachers try to instill persistence into children at a young age.  At an early age a parent encourages their child to not give up learning to walk, and then to learn their alphabet and to tie their shoes.  As we get older our challenges often get more difficult or carry more importance, but persistence is still important. Nobody likes to see a quitter.  What about when the odds are stacked against us and we don’t stand a chance? What about when we’ve tried something numerous times? Many times we just feel like giving up.  In our Scripture passage today, Jesus tells a parable about not giving up in prayer.

As our passage begins, Jesus told about a judge who really didn’t care about anybody except himself (vs. 2).  He wasn’t in the legal profession to help people, and obtain justice for them, particularly not for the poor. This judge had no regard for the Lord God, and didn’t follow His Word, either.  In the same town as the judge lived a poor widow. Widows in Biblical times were quite often very poor, as there were very few jobs that women could do to earn any money. There was no Social Security, and very few, if any, agencies to give help.  Unless their husband set aside a lot of money for their wife before they died, the widow was left destitute. This widow had some sort of legal problem that she needed help in getting justice awarded to her (vs. 3). This judge didn’t care about her or her problem, probably because he didn’t see getting paid much for his effort.  She was poor and she was a nobody, so why bother helping her.

However, this widow showed something that Jesus commended her for in His parable, and that is persistence.  This widow was not going to give up and drop the matter just because the judge was not initially helping her.  She kept coming back begging for his help, over and over again, and would not stop until she got an answer. It was her persistence that finally brought her justice (vs. 4-5).  Jesus then tells us to be just as persistent in our prayers to God.

In Jesus’ parable, He doesn’t give this judge as a symbol of God, but rather as a contrast to Him (vs. 6-8).  God will hear our prayers because He is just, loving, and merciful.  If this unjust judge responded to constant pressure, how much more will a great and loving God respond to His children.  We know God loves us, we can believe He hears our cries.

God wants us to be persistent when we pray.  Like the widow, we cannot depend upon ourselves to get us through our problems.  We need to trust God and His power. Sometimes, though, we don’t seem to get a response or answer to our prayer.  It is then that some people give up, claiming God doesn’t care. God may have many reasons for delaying in answering our prayers.  However, until He lets us know that we should stop praying for something, He wants us to persevere in prayer, with faith.

Being persistent in prayer, and not giving up, doesn’t mean constant repetition or long drawn out prayers.  It means keeping our requests constantly before God as we live day by day, and believing He will answer. To live by faith means we do not give up.  Persistence in prayer will help us grow in character, faith, and hope. One on one communication with God is how we strengthen our relationship with Him.

God loves to see us blessed.  He is not reluctant to answer.  He is working to give us the best.  God wants us to get closer to Him. As believers, we need to go to God in confidence.  We need to be persistent in our adversity because we have a mighty Advocate who will come to our defense.  Our prayers can bring about dramatic changes in heaven and earth, and can turn any situation around.