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Author: Stephen Weller
697 words, 4 minutes read time

Be Persistent In Prayer Against Injustice

Scripture: Luke 18:2-8

In the previous lesson we managed to introduce the parable of the persistent widow. In this lesson we will cover that parable.

Jesus said, ^{Lk 18:2} “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”

This parable took place in a certain city, of your imagination, where there “was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.” He showed no special deference toward anyone, regardless of whether that person was great or small. He did not “aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.” (2 Corinthians 8:21 ESV), but simply did his job according to the coldness of the law.

In that city there was also a widow who was being mistreated by certain adversaries, came to the judge asking him to provide justices for her against these adversaries. To him her request didn’t seem important enough to justify his time, so he ignored it, but the widow was as persistent as her adversaries against her and continued to come to the judge with her request. In time the judge grew tired of being bothered by her and decided to give her justice. In Luke 11:8 we studied a similar case when a friend needed some bread and was persistence with his request until his friend got up from his bed and gave what was requested.

In the parable the widow represents the poor, needy and oppressed who were being mistreated by the Jews as seen in Luke 20:47; they “who devour widows’ houses.” Her only asset was her persistence in seeking justices from the “unjust” judge. In the end it provided her with what she needed.

^{Lk 18:6} “And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”’

Jesus then points out how this unrighteous judge, in the parable, finally responded and then points to God and draws his application; If an unrighteous judge will answer a persistent request, will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Those who cry out to God are “his elect” those who believe. These are his children and are special to him. Our request is primarily for our rescue from suffering and injustice by the world. The time is coming when, like the unrighteous judge, God’s patience will runout and he will bring this wicked age to an end and usher in his kingdom.

However, in God’s perspective, in which a thousand days for us is but a day to him, he will give justices speedily, which to us seems like a very long time and so we must be persistent in prayer until we receive justice.

Jesus ends with a final question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” The answer is “yes” as there is always an element of faith on the earth. The question is asked primarily to encourage his disciples, and us, to be constant in our watchfulness and prayer.

Conclusion

How faithful are we in praying for our brothers and sisters who live under persecution and suffer greatly for their faith? What attention do we give concerning those caught up in human trafficking, or those who live among people who are at war, or those in areas of natural disasters? Our prayers should be persistent in these areas until they are answered.