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. Luke 18:6-8a
Day after day, she knocked on the door. The knocks were timid at first, then louder. Persistent. Desperate. Her creditors threatened to destroy her. Would the law actually protect this marginalized person who was fast losing hope?
Jesus’ favorite teaching tool was the use of the parable, a story that hid the meaning in layers of words for the faithful to find. In Luke 18, in the “Parable of the Persistent Widow” (see below for text), Jesus narrates a widow’s persistent attempts to entreat a disaffected judge to help her in her desperate plight. Her dogged attempts at knocking on the judge’s door finally wear him down and he eventually helps her. Typically, the meaning of this story is that persistence in prayer with our Heavenly Father yields results. But as we dig below the surface, this parable mines even greater riches.
What is prayer? Although this may be an all-too-basic question to ask, it begs asking, at least as a starting point. Prayer is simply a conversation with God. Whether we are on our knees or washing dishes, prayer is talking with God about our lives, including our hopes and dreams, as well as our sorrows and struggles. While prayer includes praise, thanksgiving, and confession, our focus today is on supplication, the petitions we implore on behalf of ourselves and others.
Prayer needn’t be full of pious words or smartly turned phrases. God simply wants our honesty. He is, after all, sovereign and omniscient (all-knowing) so He already knows what we need before we ask it (Matthew 6:7-8*). Yet it is in the conversation itself that we deepen our relationship when we are honest with God about our thoughts and feelings. Our raw emotions spill over into the holiness of God. It may feel like the good, the bad, and the ugly, depending on what is top of mind for us. Expressing anger, anxiety, sadness, or other emotions is perfectly fine. While we may have learned that feelings can’t be trusted, our feelings and emotions offer clues as to what’s wrong and show us where we need to direct our attention.
Honesty opens up the dialog between us and God. It’s the bridge that prayer is built on, one that deepens our faith. When we’re honest with God about our thoughts and feelings, our wants and needs surface more clearly and petitions fall naturally from our lips to God’s ears. And our ears hear more clearly the voice of God.
The widow in this story has great needs and she boldly petitions the judge to help her. As we look more closely, we see someone who in biblical society had no rights. Women were entirely dependent on their husbands or sons for their financial security. If they were widowed with no grown sons to support them, they often were poor.
I wonder why Jesus chose to cast a widow as one of the two characters in this drama. Perhaps His disciples had neighbors and relatives that were poor widows. Maybe Jesus wanted His followers to see how even a cantankerous judge is moved to help someone no one else wants to aid. Perhaps He wanted them to see prayer as a call to action.
The other character in the parable is the judge who is clearly fed up with the widow’s petitions. He grants her wish only so she will leave him alone. His motives are purely selfish. In contrast, God is good, merciful, and compassionate. He desires a relationship with us and calls us to converse with Him in prayer, never tiring of hearing our emotional pleas.
But God is also just and is always on the side of the oppressed. If an unjust judge will help a poor widow, how much more will God help those who are oppressed? Verse 7 tells us that God will hear the pleas of those who call out for justice and, unlike the judge in this parable, will not put them off.
The judge represents not only the antithesis of God in this story; perhaps the judge also symbolizes us. Do we ignore the needs around us out of busyness or complacency? If God puts someone on our hearts, do we just pray for them? Or do we see this as an opportunity to help? If we’re open to God’s Spirit, prayer can spring to life a new idea and craft an action plan to help someone in need.
It is said that prayer changes us. When we are honest with God in our prayer conversations, the doors of our hearts open to His will and to His work in ways that deepen our relationship with Him. Acting upon these conversations is a way to help those in need around us, whether they are persistently knocking or not. Honest prayers lead to action, not just the satisfaction in knowing we prayed today and can check it off the “list”. And that action can bring about God’s justice in a desperate world whose cries continue to be heard among the disenfranchised and the marginalized.
How honest are you with God? Who has He put on your heart? To what action might He be calling you? How can you be an instrument of God’s justice in your world of influence? Perhaps God is knocking on the doors of your heart today.
Father God, sometimes I make prayer complicated when all You ask for is an honest conversation. As You call me to pray, may I hear Your call for action, for the sake of those less fortunate and marginalized in my community and around the world. Amen.
Luke 18:1-8 - 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?”
*Matthew 6:7-8 – [Jesus says,]“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Text and photograph copyright © 2021 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of the medieval doors at St. Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, England, that are said to be the inspiration for JRR Tolkien’s Doors of Durin in The Lord of the Rings.
Not a subscriber to the monthly blog posts? Click here to subscribe.
NOTE: November is National Native American Heritage Month. Check out nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/.
A NOTE ON RACIAL JUSTICE: Becoming antiracist is a journey. Together, we can make a difference. Will you join me? Check out my web page on “Justice Matters” to find resources and to connect with organizations engaging in the cause of racial justice. Click here to learn more.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Day after day, she knocked on the door. The knocks were timid at first, then louder. Persistent. Desperate. Her creditors threatened to destroy her. Would the law actually protect this marginalized person who was fast losing hope?
Jesus’ favorite teaching tool was the use of the parable, a story that hid the meaning in layers of words for the faithful to find. In Luke 18, in the “Parable of the Persistent Widow” (see below for text), Jesus narrates a widow’s persistent attempts to entreat a disaffected judge to help her in her desperate plight. Her dogged attempts at knocking on the judge’s door finally wear him down and he eventually helps her. Typically, the meaning of this story is that persistence in prayer with our Heavenly Father yields results. But as we dig below the surface, this parable mines even greater riches.
What is prayer? Although this may be an all-too-basic question to ask, it begs asking, at least as a starting point. Prayer is simply a conversation with God. Whether we are on our knees or washing dishes, prayer is talking with God about our lives, including our hopes and dreams, as well as our sorrows and struggles. While prayer includes praise, thanksgiving, and confession, our focus today is on supplication, the petitions we implore on behalf of ourselves and others.
Prayer needn’t be full of pious words or smartly turned phrases. God simply wants our honesty. He is, after all, sovereign and omniscient (all-knowing) so He already knows what we need before we ask it (Matthew 6:7-8*). Yet it is in the conversation itself that we deepen our relationship when we are honest with God about our thoughts and feelings. Our raw emotions spill over into the holiness of God. It may feel like the good, the bad, and the ugly, depending on what is top of mind for us. Expressing anger, anxiety, sadness, or other emotions is perfectly fine. While we may have learned that feelings can’t be trusted, our feelings and emotions offer clues as to what’s wrong and show us where we need to direct our attention.
Honesty opens up the dialog between us and God. It’s the bridge that prayer is built on, one that deepens our faith. When we’re honest with God about our thoughts and feelings, our wants and needs surface more clearly and petitions fall naturally from our lips to God’s ears. And our ears hear more clearly the voice of God.
The widow in this story has great needs and she boldly petitions the judge to help her. As we look more closely, we see someone who in biblical society had no rights. Women were entirely dependent on their husbands or sons for their financial security. If they were widowed with no grown sons to support them, they often were poor.
I wonder why Jesus chose to cast a widow as one of the two characters in this drama. Perhaps His disciples had neighbors and relatives that were poor widows. Maybe Jesus wanted His followers to see how even a cantankerous judge is moved to help someone no one else wants to aid. Perhaps He wanted them to see prayer as a call to action.
The other character in the parable is the judge who is clearly fed up with the widow’s petitions. He grants her wish only so she will leave him alone. His motives are purely selfish. In contrast, God is good, merciful, and compassionate. He desires a relationship with us and calls us to converse with Him in prayer, never tiring of hearing our emotional pleas.
But God is also just and is always on the side of the oppressed. If an unjust judge will help a poor widow, how much more will God help those who are oppressed? Verse 7 tells us that God will hear the pleas of those who call out for justice and, unlike the judge in this parable, will not put them off.
The judge represents not only the antithesis of God in this story; perhaps the judge also symbolizes us. Do we ignore the needs around us out of busyness or complacency? If God puts someone on our hearts, do we just pray for them? Or do we see this as an opportunity to help? If we’re open to God’s Spirit, prayer can spring to life a new idea and craft an action plan to help someone in need.
It is said that prayer changes us. When we are honest with God in our prayer conversations, the doors of our hearts open to His will and to His work in ways that deepen our relationship with Him. Acting upon these conversations is a way to help those in need around us, whether they are persistently knocking or not. Honest prayers lead to action, not just the satisfaction in knowing we prayed today and can check it off the “list”. And that action can bring about God’s justice in a desperate world whose cries continue to be heard among the disenfranchised and the marginalized.
How honest are you with God? Who has He put on your heart? To what action might He be calling you? How can you be an instrument of God’s justice in your world of influence? Perhaps God is knocking on the doors of your heart today.
Father God, sometimes I make prayer complicated when all You ask for is an honest conversation. As You call me to pray, may I hear Your call for action, for the sake of those less fortunate and marginalized in my community and around the world. Amen.
Luke 18:1-8 - 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?”
*Matthew 6:7-8 – [Jesus says,]“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Text and photograph copyright © 2021 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of the medieval doors at St. Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, England, that are said to be the inspiration for JRR Tolkien’s Doors of Durin in The Lord of the Rings.
Not a subscriber to the monthly blog posts? Click here to subscribe.
NOTE: November is National Native American Heritage Month. Check out nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/.
A NOTE ON RACIAL JUSTICE: Becoming antiracist is a journey. Together, we can make a difference. Will you join me? Check out my web page on “Justice Matters” to find resources and to connect with organizations engaging in the cause of racial justice. Click here to learn more.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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