This parable teaches us what true prayer is. We must be in
prayer always, otherwise we faint. Prayer is not what we ask whatever we want
to do or to get. Rather, prayer is what we ask whatever God wants to do and to
be. In this parable, the Lord Jesus teaches us how much quickly our Father in
heaven wants to answer the cry of his children to bring justice for his name’s
sake. Our God cares with compassion and mercy for the cry of his children day
and night. We have such a God who brings justice without delay because he knows
what’s in need of us even before we come and ask him (Matthew 6:8). But at
times and many a people says that their experience tells the slowness of God
for their cry. It’s because we do not take it by faith that God has already
answered our prayers. Our Lord Jesus tosses a question in the air at the end of
the parable, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the
earth?” (Luke 18:8b) He is saying, “Will he see his children on earth in
prayer, not in faint, when he comes again?”
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that
they should always pray and not give up.” (Luke 18:1)
It says we should always pray and not give up, which means
if we don’t pray always then we shall give up. Either one, pray always or give
up. So, it’s seriously significant for us to pray always. Why should we pray
always? We’ve been made that way in the beginning, even before the creation of
the world. Prayer is the expression of dependence on someone else. How much
should we depend on in every way in our daily lives? We depend on air to
breathe non-stop lifetime. We depend on plants and animals to sustain our
lives. We depend on families, neighbors, and communities each other. We depend
on sunshine in every way as well as all kinds of materials. Countries depend on
others. Governments depend on taxpayers and vice versa. We cannot but depending
on everything. That’s how we’ve been built and made from the beginning. In
fact, we’ve been born to depend on none other than God himself who has made all
things in heaven and on earth. We’ve been made alive in Christ Jesus to depend
on his life now and forevermore for he is our true bread and true drink.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real
drink.’” (John 6:53-55)
That’s why we pray always and not give up. We’re always in
need and the Lord God only can meet all the needs we yearn. Having devotions
every morning, even very early in the morning is considered as prayer. But
that’s not all. Having congregational prayers is also considered as prayer. It is
so important to keep on doing it. But that’s not all either. True prayer is
like breathing which shall be non-stop without fail. That’s why our Lord Jesus
says we shall pray always and not give up. There are no prayer activities which
fit to that kind of non-stop faithful dependence on him. It’s simply because we
should do many other things than the devotionals and congregational prayers. We
shall eat, talk, study, travel, clean, work, and do many other things. So, our
Lord Jesus teaches us how we may always pray and not give up through a parable.
He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither
feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town
who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t
fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me,
I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack
me!’” (Luke 18:2-5)
There was a judge who was definitely arrogant and insolent
and didn’t care anything but himself. He did not fear God and nor cared what
people thought. And there was a widow who was poor and yet in need of justice
for whatever the reason was. She was no one to go but to the judge and begged
him justice. Obviously, he didn’t care but ignored her completely. But it was
just for some time the judge refused to get her justice because she kept coming
and pleading for justice. Finally, the judge said to himself, “Even though I
don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps
bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually
come and attack me!” And the Lord Jesus teaches the lesson out of the parable.
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him
day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they
get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:6-8)
Here the judge and the widow are not the main characters at
all. Our Lord Jesus compares the proud and arrogant judge with the merciful and
compassionate God the Father in heaven who will bring about justice for his
children quickly and will not keep putting them off. Many Bible teachers have
been teaching the parable as if we shall pray to God like this widow
persistently, crying out day and night, until he answers. But it is not the
point our Lord Jesus makes out of the parable at all. Our God is not like the
judge who only cares himself. Our Lord Jesus is making a contrast between the
unwilling judge with the compassionate God. We shall pray and cry out day and
night. That is right because we are always in need. But our God does not keep
putting us off like the judge does. He quickly answers the cry of his chosen
ones without delay. That’s the key of this parable.
Then, why do many experience the delay of prayers sometimes
quite a while and even many years of delay? Many people say that they pray day
and night but there is no answer. It is not because God does not answer our
prayers quickly but we do not take it by faith that he has already answered our
prayers. Through this parable our Lord Jesus is saying that God is not like the
unrighteous judge who is completely careless and selfish but like the one who
cares his children with compassion and pity, listening and answering quickly to
their cry and bringing justice at the right time which was set even before time
began. Delaying experience of prayer doesn’t necessarily mean that God does not
care nor answers because he is a compassionate and faithful God. At times he
deliberately delays because he knows the right time to answer the cry of his
children. Prophet Isaiah says that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and his
ways are not our ways either.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah
55:8-9)
We do not see the whole picture or entire spectrum of what’s
really going on behind what’s happening in our eyes. It’s impossible for us to
know all. But we have a God who knows all and everything. He is compassionate
and faithful that he sent his Son as he promised long ago at the right time
that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God so
loved the world and endured long-suffering for he wants to save all kinds of people,
not losing anyone till he sent his Son Jesus Christ to redeem the world. Our
prayer is not asking our own agenda to be accomplished at our time by means of
the hands of God. It never be true prayer at all. Rather, our prayer must be
asking him to do his will for the redemption of the world speedily just as he
promised. Our God is zealous and faithful in keeping his promises.
There is the physical level of being answered of our prayers
as well as and more importantly the spiritual level of being answered of our
prayers. Even if it hasn’t been answered in the physical level but it may be answered
in the realm of spirit. The Scriptures say that we’ve been crucified with
Christ, buried with him, and raised with him from the dead (Galatians 2:20).
How would it be possible when the Son was crucified we’ve not even born? It is
true we weren’t there in the physical level but we were there with him in the
realm of spirit because the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus is a timeless and
eternal event. For example, we’ve been born of God and called righteous before
him. As Christ suffered, so do we share in his sufferings. But the children
born of God even rejoice in the sufferings for they produce perseverance,
character, and hope (Romans 5:3-4). The Scripture says that we rejoice in our
sufferings, not after the sufferings are over. And we can rejoice in the midst
of sufferings not because they are pleasurable or pleasant but because they
come from God and will produce the fruits of perseverance though they are
painful and hurting much. We can rejoice in our sufferings because God knows
how much we can bear in the trials and he will provide a way out so that we can
endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13). Sufferings and trials are coming to wake us up
to see through the truth and reality in our midst.
Christ is the perfect example of praying always and not give
up. He was the man who was wrongly accused by his own people. He was the man
who was stressed and pressured by the religious leaders with all kinds of
accusations and strange questions. He was called a drunkard and the Beelzebub,
the prince of demons. He was the man who was deserted by his own disciples. He
was rebuked once and renounced three times by Peter, the top disciple. He was
misunderstood by his own families as a mad man. Eventually, he was the man who
was condemned to death by Sanhedrin because he was the Son of God and was
handed over to the Gentiles and was crucified by the hand of Roman soldiers,
receiving the punishment for the sin of the world. He was the man who was
forsaken even by the Father in heaven.
But Jesus never lost his temper but remained calm and in
peace and rest all the time. He answered all the questions they asked for
testing. He healed all the patients brought to him. He even raised the dead. He
healed many and opened his mouth to speak the truth about the kingdom of God.
He loved his disciples to the end, even Judas who betrayed him. He spoke the
truth before Pontius Pilate who let him crucified. He did not retaliate when he
was reviled and accused but rather entrusted himself to God who judges justly
(1 Peter 2:23). The Scripture says that he learned obedience through what he suffered
(Hebrews 5:8). He endured the cross for the joy set before, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).
How could he demonstrate such a perfect and holy life as a
man? Our Lord Jesus says that he was in the Father and the Father in him, which
means he was always praying, relying on the Father every moment and step in the
earthly life. The Father and the Son was one (John 17:11). The Son was always
dependent on the Father, asking everything to the Father who answered him
everything. Though Christ received all power in heaven and on the earth from
the Father, he could do nothing by himself. That’s what our Lord says.
“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does
the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes,
and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be
amazed.” (John 5:19-20)
That’s the secret of Christ who always prayed and not gave
up. He was in the Father and the Father in the Son. The Son asked everything to
the Father and the Father gave the Son everything. Jesus never left the place
of depending on the Father ever and the Father was pleased to give everything
to the Son. Jesus Christ demonstrated such a mystery of life not for himself
but for all of us in him. He demonstrated the life not as God but as a man, so
that we in him may follow his footstep. That’s the gospel and true hope.
Apostle Paul proclaims that we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, which
means what God has is freely available to us (Romans 8:17).
Our Lord Jesus tosses a question in the air and leaves us to
answer, saying “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the
earth?” (Luke 18:8b) Living by faith is the expression of praying always. Those
who pray always shall live faith, not by sight. So, our Lord Jesus is saying
that when he comes again he wants to see his children praying always.
Prayer: Thank you Father for Jesus who demonstrated a life
in total dependence on the Father, so that we also may follow him and pray
always and not give up. Thank you for teaching that we are always in need and
only God can meet all the needs in Christ who has already met everything on the
cross and risen from the dead. In Christ’s name. Amen.
August 2, 2016
© 2015-2016 David
Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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