Being Persistent in Prayer

Lenten Devotions

A Walk through the Book of Luke

March 30, 2023

Luke 18:1-8

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

“Being persistent in Prayer.”

At the time of this writing, my wife has been in the hospital for eight days now. She has double pneumonia, blood clots in her lungs, a persistent dry cough, and a low-grade fever that comes and goes. And, as many of you know, she has progressive M.S.

To say that I have been persistent in my prayers for her would be an understatement. Hopefully, that is why she has improved some. Once the doctors stabilize her blood oxygen, she’ll be moved to a rehab center for a couple of weeks to help regain her strength.

Prayer requests to God are not necessarily met with an immediate answer. All prayers are answered in God’s time, not ours. And the thing that frustrates people the most is that God’s answers to our prayers are often not what we expect. He answers our prayers in ways that many times seem unusual or insufficient. But, He does answer them.

Today’s parable is about a persistent widow.

**********************The Point*********************

The most interesting part of this parable is that Jesus tells His disciples what it’s about before He shares it with them.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 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!’”

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 18:1-8

Jesus tells this parable to His disciples to encourage them to be persistent with their prayers because the Father is listening.

The woman in today’s parable has only one way to get the outcome she seeks. She is persistent in going to the judge over and over again. Finally, she wears him down, and he gives her the outcome she asks for.

I don’t believe we can wear God down by being persistent in our prayers. On the contrary, by not answering our prayers immediately, God tells us,

“I hear you, be patient.”

There are times in our lives our faith can dwindle. It can be because of the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, or wondering why a woman who already has M.S. is going through more pain and discomfort.

We must be patient, have faith, and believe God will answer our prays. So, pray incessantly, never stop. It doesn’t matter if your life is going well or a loved one is in the hospital. Be consistent in your prayers and have Faith that God will answer them in His time and in His way.