Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged.
A magazine cartoon has a little fellow kneeling beside his bed for his bedtime prayer and saying with some measure of disgust, "Dear God, Uncle Jim still doesn't have a job; my sister still doesn't have a date for the social; Grandma is still feeling sick - and I'm tired of praying for this family and not getting results."
Praying was a problem for this little fellow and he isn't alone. Prayer is a problem for many modern people even Christians. If it wasn't a problem, then why are there so few people who take prayer seriously?
If it isn't a problem for us then why do we find it so hard to set time aside everyday to spend with God in prayer? If we took prayer seriously then we wouldn't hesitate to be persistent and consistent in the time we spend in conversation with God.
If we think that this is a particularly modern problem, think again. Why would Jesus have told this parable and quite a number of others about prayer to his disciples? Why would he have given us the Lord's Prayer as a model prayer, if everybody back then believed in prayer or knew how to pray?
In fact, throughout Luke and Acts there is great deal of talk about prayer. All of this suggests that prayer is not simply today’s problem - it is a problem for anyone who believes in God or want to walk with God.
If we really believe in the power of prayer, if we really believe that prayer can effect world peace, if we are truly convinced that prayer changes things, changes us, heals broken lives and restores broken relationships, then we would be praying constantly.
Nothing should keep us from praying. And that is what Jesus addresses here. We simply lose heart, when our prayers are not answered “rightly”. Maybe there was a time when we thought prayer was effective. But we have been disappointed and lose heart. So Jesus tells a parable about persistent prayer.
There were judges in Jesus' day who were notorious for accepting bribes, for being corrupt and perverting the course of justice. The story goes on to tell us about a widow who has a case, and comes to see the judge, but she has nothing to offer as a bribe.
Neither does she have anyone to speak on her behalf. She is a picture of helplessness person. But she does have one thing. The gift of being a pest. Leaving messages on the judge’s answering machine, constantly appearing in his office, writing him letter after letter, sending faxes. She gives him no peace - she is persistent. She wanted justice and she wanted it now!
Finally this judge says to himself, "Even though I don't care much about God and I can't stand this woman, I will give this woman what she wants just to get her out of my hair. Jesus tells us the purpose of this parable in his opening sentence. He wanted his disciples to "always pray and not to give up". We should persist and not lose heart. This the key phase in the whole parable.
There are two points that come out of this parable for me. Firstly, the widow was in a helpless situation she could have easily lost heart and given up. As someone who was a nobody in her community, too poor to even afford to bribery and she lacked influential friends, the chance of her having any success was nil. She is a picture of helplessness and who wouldn't blame her for losing heart.
We don't pray because we lose heart. As I said, if we really believed that God hears and answers our prayers, if we were convinced that prayer changes things, heals broken lives, and restores broken relationships
.Then we, like the woman, would be hammering on God's door constantly, asking, seeking and knocking, and waiting, our trust sometimes fainting, sometimes growing angry. In the face of every difficulty we would not lose heart, but consistently and persistently keep on going to God even though we have become discouraged.
The Bible records some of the prayers of people who have gone to God with their seemingly hopeless situations. Some of the bitterest complaints about God and his ways are to be found in the Bible. In the Psalms and the Book of Job the cries of bitter and angry people are recorded for us today. Rather than lose heart and give upon God they persistently called out to him, "How long, O Lord?" "My God, why?" "Though I cry..." "I call for help" (from Psalms).
If we really believe that God answers prayers, then we, like Jesus, will not give up because the situation seems too hopeless or we are too worn out by the circumstances to take it to God in prayer. That is just what Jesus is getting at. "Keep on praying", he says. Your life might seem to be utter chaos and a total mess, it might seem that God isn't even listening, or it may appear to you that you have everything totally under control, but nevertheless "Keep on praying".
It would have been easy for that widow to give up because the odds were against her ever moving the corrupt judge to do anything in her favour. In spite of how things might look to you and I, and how overpowering the trouble is in our life, and even though the situation appears hopeless, Jesus urges us not to lose faith but to "keep on praying."
I said there are two points that I'd like to make. Firstly, that if we believe that prayer is important nothing should keep us from praying. The second point is that this parable about the character of God. The character of God to means God can be trusted.
If that sleazy and corrupt judge who had no real interest in the widow at his door, will open his hand and answer the requests of the widow, then how much more will your heavenly Father, my heavenly listen to our conversation. I believe that God has a deep and intimate concern with everything that happens in our lives, and has promised to answer our conversations and petitions with love in his time.
This parable is about the trustworthiness and generosity of God. If a crooked judge can give what is asked for, how much more will God who is gracious and kind supply our needs. Jesus said something similar to this after the parable about the man who persistently knocked his neighbour's door at middle of the night.
He said, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread will give you him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though, you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give good gifts to those who asks him" (Matthew 7:10,11).
You see, if like us, parents give good things to our children because we love them, then it follows that our heavenly Father who promised to love us as his own at our baptism and makes us members of his family, will never ignore our prayers, and will always answer them in the most loving way.
Our text today reassures us that God does hear our prayers, just as the judge heard the widow and her pleadings. We can take comfort in the knowledge that God is far more gracious than the dishonest judge is. He answers out of his goodness and kindness and grace.
If God’s answers depended on us, on how well we pray, the word we chose, the loudness of our prayers, or on how well we have lived as God's people, then we could never expect to have our prayers answered or engagement in conversation with God.
I'm sure every one of us here this morning will admits that prayer doesn't have the place in our lives as it should. Even as we confess our slackness when it comes to praying, God answers that prayer out of love and reminds us that we belong to him and the blood of his Son has saved us. His answers are always good. It may be not what we want, and his answers are never vengeful or vindictive. As God's children you and I can count on that.
This parable of Jesus about the widow and the dishonest judge encourages us to pray. "Don't give up praying," Jesus is saying, "just because the times are hard."
"Keep on praying!" Why? Because of the relationship that we have with the Father through baptism. Keep on praying because he is gracious and kind. Keep on praying even if the whole situation looks hopeless in our eyes. Keep on praying because he loves us and is waiting to answer our prayers in a way that will be for our benefit. If a crooked judge is able to grant the widow's request, how much will a loving and gracious God give us what we ask.
What I have learned from this text is that: When we pray we must be persistent and humble. Most of all, we cannot depend on our own resources to get us through problems. We need to trust God and his strength.
Keep on praying because we have a God who is willing and waiting to hear from us, and who wants to apply his loving answer to every request we bring to him.
Sometimes we may doubt, we may be angry, we may be upset, we may question "why?" but God is always ready to listen to our conversations, when we ask, when we seek, and when we knock.
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
October 17, 2004