The Persistent Widow: Prayer

The Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge in Luke 18

So tonight we're going to go through the persistent widow and the unjust judge, again Luke 18, verses 1 -8. And it starts out like this. And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

He said, in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in this city who kept coming to him and saying, Give me justice against my adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.

And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says, And will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Now, just to give you a little context, right before this, it was talking about Jesus coming in judgment on Jerusalem. So, although we do apply this to prayer, this does have prayer in context, it was speaking with regards to the coming of the Son of Man.

So, what is the usual interpretation, or the way people usually understand this parable?

Well, it goes like this.

We are like the widow, and God is like the judge. And we must keep petitioning our God until He relents and gives us what we're asking of Him. He wants to give us good things, but we must show faithfulness and persistence.

Right? We're supposed to keep knocking, keep asking God, He's going to relent, don't worry, you keep knocking on that door, He's going to let you, He's going to give you what you want. Unfortunately, this is almost the exact opposite of what the parable is teaching.

God Is Not Like the Unjust Judge

So, let's do a couple of investigations first. What do we know about the judge? Well, first, the judge doesn't fear God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So, God is not His standard of justice.

Who is His standard of justice? Himself. He doesn't fear God. So, whatever law it is, it's going to be something pertaining to what He thinks about it, and not what God's ultimate standard is. So, He doesn't fear God, and He is the standard Himself.

The judge, the unrighteous judge, doesn't respect man. So, think about any rulings that he might offer. Are they going to be just rulings? No, he doesn't respect mankind. He cares more about how he appears to others, what his reputation is, how he handles other people.

He doesn't want to tarnish his reputation for the sake of the decision that he happens to bring down in the case of justice, or for the person's case. The judge needs to be persuaded to administer justice.

The judge is unrighteous. Fearing God and loving man are essential for a judge. The Jews, obviously, when they appointed judges, these were God-fearing men who went by what? The law of God. And the law hangs on what two commandments?

Love God, love man. If you have no fear of God, and you don't respect man, you're basically anti-law. It's the exact opposite of what a Jewish judge would have ruled by. A judge with no fear of God recognizes no universal ethic outside of his own self-interest.

And we actually see this in 2 Chronicles 19.

And it says,.

He doesn't fear the Lord. He doesn't have respect for mankind. The Jewish judges had to fear the Lord. And we're not supposed to be partial to bribes or partiality or bribes. Now, if you listen to the dividing line, James White just did a thing on the Supreme Court justices.

I urge you all to listen to it. He does an excellent job of what's going on with that. So then it has pertinence to what a judge is. All right, so that's what we know about the judge. What do we know about God?

Well, we know that God is the standard of justice. There is no justice apart, true justice, perfect justice, apart from the perfect standard and the perfect God. He's the one who administers justice. God does care about mankind.

He created mankind. Now, obviously, there's a different covenant that he's in with the elect versus unbelievers. But he's in covenant with everybody. And the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

He shows kindness and compassion to unbelievers. So he does care about man. God doesn't fear man. He's not concerned about what we're going to do or what we're going to say about him. He's not concerned that his reputation is going to be tarnished if we happen to malign him.

So he doesn't fear man. He has no reason to fear man. God is always just. There's no injustice with God. God is always righteous. So every decision God makes is always righteous. He cannot change or be swayed.

We're not trying to twist God's arm. We're not trying to change his mind. We're not trying to change his outlook. God, if you only knew this, you'd give me this answer. He's the model for all other judges.

We're supposed to judge righteously. The way Jesus is going to judge. So we have to model Christ. We're supposed to judge rightly. When you judge, judge rightly. And finally, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

So not that God fears God, but there's a holy reverence. We're talking about a triune God. Now, does God worship himself? I wouldn't quite call it worship, but there's a reverence within the Godhead. The Father loves the Son.

The Son loves the Father. The Holy Spirit loves Father and Son. There's that mutual love for each other. So what else do we know about God? The judge was unloving, evil, ungracious, merciless, and unjust.

But God is loving, good, gracious, merciful, and just. Moreover, whatever God is, he is infinitely and perfectly. Man is mutable. Man changes. Man's desire is sometimes all over the place. He can easily be led astray, depending on our emotions, depending on our mood, depending on what's going on in society.

We can be more angry at times than other times. We can be happier at times than other times. That never happens to God. God doesn't change. So again, are we praying in order to change God's will, or are we praying in order to change our will?

What do we pray in the Lord's Prayer? Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I think the other night I was talking to somebody, and they were telling me how God doesn't choose and how he's not completely sovereign over all things.

So I said, so when you pray the Lord's Prayer, you pray, my will be done. Ultimately, that's what you're petitioning for. You don't want God's ultimate will to be. You want your will to be done, because you have free will.

No.

Our will can change. Our will is sinful. God's will is perfect. We want God's perfect will to happen here on earth. Tozer writes this, the term just, when used of God, is a name we give to the way God is.

Nothing more. And when God acts justly, he is simply acting like himself in every situation. So this is a God who is perfectly just in every situation that he's in. No one ever gets injustice. Everyone gets justice.

God is a holy and just God. Now you may say, wait a second, Anthony, I don't want justice. Good, you don't want justice. But when I say everyone gets justice, our sins need to be paid for. If our sins weren't paid for, and he accepted us that way, but didn't accept someone else because of their sin, well, that would be unjust.

He makes a payment for these sins. So he's just in that the sin is paid for. Follow? Is everybody following that?

Is that OK?

All right.

Somebody is looking like, uh-oh.

All right.

So he's just. Let's leave it at that. Next, what do we know about the widow? The widow, by definition, has no husband. We're going to the next slide. I'll expand on that. Widows were among the most powerless in Hebrew society.

So the very fact that this is about a woman. OK, again, in that society, women didn't have too many rights. They were considered lower class. On top of that, she has no husband. She has nobody to help her.

Nobody to petition on her behalf. So he's making a dichotomy between this unjust judge and this widow who has absolutely no power. Since she has no power, she has to be persistent. She has to come and beg this judge for what she wants.

They were oppressed. Widows were oppressed, taken advantage of, and they were legal victims. She begs for what she wants. She's not going and asking the judge, I want justice. Please help me out. She's begging him persistently, nagging him, nagging him.

And she knows that this is how she's going to eventually get what she wants. She knows the more she nags, the more she's apt to get what she wants. Her chances of getting what she wants justly are slim.

If they weren't, she wouldn't be nagging this way. She wouldn't be as persistent as she is. She's looked at like a nuisance to the judge. She's a bother to him. Oh, she's going to keep bothering me. She's going to give me a black eye.

That's what the word in Greek means. It meant like she's badgering me. She's beating me up. I wish she'd stop. I just better give her what she wants. She has an adversarial relationship to the person she wants justice from and the judge.

The Widow and the Saints Are Not the Same

So what do we know about the saints?

All right.

What's the definition of a widow? Someone doesn't have a husband. We're not widows. We're the bride of Christ. We are the elect. We are not widows coming to God without a husband. We have a great high priest, an intercessor, who pleads on our behalf day and night.

If God be for you, who can be against you? Who can make a charge against those whom God has chosen? So we are not husbandless. That's one of the contrasts between the widow and us as saints. We're not powerless.

God is our father. In our weakness, he's made strong. He is our strength. He is our stronghold. We have nothing to fear when God is our father. He's our source of power. We're not victims. We're overcomers.

We are overcomers in Christ. We have victory already. Anything else we get in this life like this, it says, is a blessed benefit. Now, it's not that God is a meanie and he's withholding things from us because he doesn't want us to have them.

God has a plan and a purpose for every single thing that happens in this world. We do not beg. We're not beggars. We're not begging God to do something. Again, that would be a contrast. We're not a nuisance to God.

We're his children. There's that father-son, father-daughter relationship. We're in covenant with God. He loves us the same way he loves Jesus. It's a big difference between this widow who's powerless, who's begging, and who's a nuisance.

This is a clear contrast between the widow and the church. We have a covenantal relationship with God. It has something very important. The widow wants what she wants while we want what God wants. When we pray according to his will, he gives it to us.

So our will needs to be aligned with his will. Sometimes we pray and miss.

Why?

Because James says we're asking with the wrong motives. So we need to know that our heart is right and our motives are right. Are we asking for these things for selfish reasons? Are we asking something that we know God can't bless?

Lord, I cheated on my taxes. Please, I hope I don't get caught. You know, wrong motives. Ultimately, the parable of the unjust judge and the pestering widow is a parable of contrast. The clear lesson of the parable is that God is not like the judge, for God is good and gracious.

And we are not the nameless widow, for we are his chosen ones. So a distressing bugging of God is, in fact, inadequate prayer. Now, we're going to get into this a little bit later. It doesn't mean that we don't persistently go to God.

It doesn't mean that we don't continually go to God and ask him for what's on our heart. So what do we know about prayer? The sub-Christian version of this parable is to imagine that our fervent prayers will begin to accumulate meritous critical mass.

Oh my gosh, there's so many of these prayers coming up to heaven. How can I not answer this?

I have to answer.

My email is full. I better get these out, right? So full that God cannot ignore it. That's not biblical. Such a view is idolatrous because it imagines that God is something like the unjust judge. And we get to see this in Scripture in 1 Kings.

You guys all know the story. That's the prophets of Baal. It was because the prophets of Baal were idolaters, deluded in worshiping a false concept of God, that they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon.

Oh, Baal, answer us. And that is why at noon, Elijah began to taunt them. Shout louder. Maybe he doesn't hear you. Maybe he's in the bathroom. Surely he's God. Perhaps he's deep in thought or busy. Or maybe he's traveling.

Maybe he's sleeping. You got to wake him up. So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until blood flowed.

Right?

Elijah is showing the difference between our God and false gods. False gods supposedly can be barraged with prayer to the point where they're going to answer us because we've prayed so much. That's not the Christian view.

God doesn't answer our prayers because more people prayed.

Okay?

Any questions?

All right.

What Prayer Is and Why We Pray

So what exactly are we doing in prayer? Now, I just want to tell you up front, prayer is mysterious.

Okay?

There's a lot of things I don't know about prayer. God says, look, I know what you're going to pray for before you ask, but ask. And I'm like, if you know, why would I have to ask? Scripture says ask, right?

Prayer becomes an act of faith, an act of dependence on God. Even though he knows what I'm going to ask, he says, ask. Trust. Put your faith in me. So when we pray, we're offering up our desires to God.

We're offering them up to him, saying, Lord, these are our desires. And obviously, when it's an answered prayer, all prayers answered, yes, no, or not now. But when we get the answer, we either recognize, yes, that was in line with God's will, or no, that wasn't in line with God's will right now.

God's delay is not God's denial. We can't say just because he said no now means he'll never say no. It just may not be God's timing right now. So in prayer, we're offering up our desires to God. Next, we're surrendering our will to God.

What we're saying is, Lord, your will be done. This is what we're asking for. Ultimately, Lord, we need you to move. We want your will to be done in this situation. I mean, there's so many times, like we were talking earlier, Chris mentioned the name it and claim it people.

Well, this is what I want. I name it, I claim it, and now it's mine. Well, that's not surrendering your will to God. If God wants you to have something, praise God, you'll get it. But we have to surrender our wills to God.

We cannot only trust God with our prayers. We have to trust him with the results. Whatever that answer is, we have to trust that he's bigger, wiser, more powerful, more understanding of the situation than we are, and his perfect will will be accomplished.

We're entering into communication with God. Now, I just want you to understand I'm not talking about two-way communication where you're going to pray and then all of a sudden you're going to get the booming voice.

Anthony, thank you for praying that. That's what I meant. Good job. No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm not taking two-way communication where you're going to hear audible voices back. OK, when I talk about communication, I'm talking about being in communion with God.

When you sit down in the morning, evening, whenever it is, and you pray, there's a sense of a one-on-one situation where you're praying to God and as a Christian, God lives in you.

He's with you.

He's listening to our prayers as we ask them. So there's that communion that takes place. Again, we celebrate communion on Sunday, and there's a deeper sense of God's presence where we do that covenant renewal.

That's the whole point of the worship service, to get to the point where we've gone through the liturgy and we get to the high point, which is our communion with God. But we can have communion in a different way with God every day when we pray.

It's also practicing the presence of God, acknowledging that God is present in you and with you every second of the day. Pray without ceasing. How could you pray without ceasing if God wasn't with you or could hear you all the time?

So we understand that God is with us throughout the day. And every day, every moment, I should say, is an opportunity to pray and speak with God. And finally, we experience the peace of God. I know when I'm praying and I'm surrendering my will to God and laying out my desires to him, the Spirit comforts me.

The Spirit moves me. There are certain times I'm praying and I'm like, Lord, I know there's somebody I'm forgetting to pray for, and all of a sudden, boom, they come to mind and I start praying for them.

But there's a peace in knowing when I surrender my will to God and my desires to God, knowing that he's in control, I can have peace, knowing that he is the one who answers the prayer. He's the one who directs the affairs of men.

Questions About Repeated Prayer and Two-Way Communication

Okay.

What is our motive in prayer? And there's a guy by the name of Sam Storms. He's a really good, he's a good Calvinist. And he wrote a book. And in there, he poses some relevant questions to us that we can use to evaluate our prayer lives.

One of them is this. Do we repeat a request because we think that the quality of a prayer is dependent on the quantity of the words? Can anybody remember a scripture that actually deals with this? Spit it out.

But he's telling them not to be like the Gentiles. They think they'll be heard for their many words.

Right, exactly. You know, making a big, long prayer. Oh, God will definitely listen to this prayer because it's so eloquent. Versus that guy. He said two words. Lord, forgive me. No, I got to go through this big dissertation.

No. Right.

We should not think that the quantity or the quality of our words is the reason why God answers prayer. Not at all. A simple prayer. However you speak. I mean, you got to recognize we're not when we pray.

We shouldn't be speaking like we speak to a friend.

Right.

This is our God, our king, our father.

Right.

So there's a different level of respect there. So when we're praying, we don't need to. You know, you can pray in the King James if you want. But, you know, just pray normal with your regular voice. OK, so he asked, do we repeat a request because we think that is that God is ignorant and he needs to be informed of the situation?

Or if not ignorant, at least he's unconcerned and therefore needs to be poked and prodding. He needs to be aroused. Lord, don't you see what's going on? Don't you care? Come on, you know, wake up already.

Get in there.

No, these these are things that we use to evaluate our motives. Why are we praying? Are we praying that God's will be done? Are we surrendering our wills to God? Or we just pulling on pulling on God's, you know, coattails saying, I need you to do this.

Yes.

What do you say to people when they say that if you don't believe that it's a two way communication that you don't have a real relationship with God? A lot of people say that.

OK, what scripture would they be? That's what I would ask. What scripture are you using to say that? I've never seen a scripture that says you need two way communication. Now, do I believe it's two way communication?

Yes. In a sense. OK, the Holy Spirit lives inside you. He moves my heart. He convicts me. He comforts me. Is that a form of communication? Yes.

Right.

I don't believe that again, that the booming voice is going to come out and tell me, oh, that was a good prayer, Anthony. I'm definitely answering that one. But the other one, not so much. Keep going.

You know, keep, you know, a little bit more eloquent. I might hear that one. I just don't see that in the scriptures.

Yeah, and the reality is, two way communication, God does communicate with us.

Yeah. Here.

He's given us a wealth of words.

But people will argue that, oh, well, like, you know, it doesn't tell me. There, turn left on K Street. You know, like for specific things going on in their daily life, they say, well, this isn't answered.

He's not a genius.

But I'm saying people will argue that. I've heard these arguments.

That's why you have to put them, push them back to scripture. God doesn't promise.

They usually use the still small voice verse as well. They use that as a defense.

And how many people got that? One guy.

Right.

And what is it? It's a still small voice. They hear an audible voice. The illustration that I usually use is a biblical one. I talk about King Solomon. King Solomon had a relationship with God such that when he spoke to God, God answered.

They had two way communication.

Right.

What when when God speaks to Solomon says, what can I give you, Solomon? He says, give me wisdom that I may lead your people and teach them.

Right.

So God gives them wisdom. Why would he need wisdom if he had a two way communication with God? Every time he's doing something with somebody. Hold on a second. Hey, Lord, should I do this?

Okay.

Yeah.

No, you got to go make a right hand turn on Main Street. He uses wisdom.

Okay.

So that we think on our own. Not that we were constantly.

Okay.

Oh, I don't know what to do. I got to ask. I got to ask God.

No, I'm not saying don't ask God. Lord, please guide my steps. Point me in the right direction. But it's not a two way communication where.

Okay.

Do I make a right? And you just wait.

Well, yeah.

Yes.

When you think about Solomon, God appeared to him twice.

Twice or three times.

I'm not sure.

Twice he came to him and spoke to him. You know, he asked him what he wanted.

Right.

And he asked for wisdom. And then when they finish a temple and he dedicates the temple, he comes to him and speaks to him again. I've heard your prayers and this is what I'm going to do. So he actually only spoke to Solomon twice.

And he was furious with Solomon because he had spoken to him twice. And Solomon still went astray and did exactly what he wasn't supposed to do. We think, oh, if only God would speak to me. The more revelation we have, the more responsibility we have.

That goes. That's across the board. You know, not all of you should desire to be teachers because we incur a stricter judgment.

Right.

But you look at those who have a bigger stage. You know, Moses talked to God face to face. And then he hit a rock.

And you're not going to the Promised Land.

You know, there's that much more accountability towards it. But like he said, Solomon asked for wisdom. David, who had this relationship with God and prophets, and Solomon, who had this great wisdom, they had counselors.

You know, and then Raboam, he's asking his counselors, the counselors who stood in the presence of his father, how should I answer these people? And then he asks his friends, like, what do you think I should do?

But God, that's how God gives us wisdom and accountability. We go by the principles of the Word, but it's built in. It's not like, oh, we're going to get that. Because how do you know? How do you verify that God was telling you to make that left turn?

And then you get hit by a garbage truck.

Right.

It wasn't him.

No.

You know, so it's, we have to go by this principle. We're not promised that kind of communication. It's actually very rare. You think about all of human history. How many times does God actually speak audibly to people?

And what does Hebrews say? And many times, in many ways, God spoke, and now he's spoken through his son.

Well, there are people who will say, well, it's not an audible voice, but I know that God spoke to me. And then as soon as they tell you, you're like, I'm pretty sure God did not tell him that.

Right, right. Exactly.

God's always got a liar when he can't believe himself.

I'm wondering, is it similar, kind of like doubting Thomas in the sense of, like, unless I see it, I don't believe it? Is it like almost a lack of faith when they need that much type of reassurance?

It could be an element of that. I think it's just bad teaching. I think most people, I think most people in those circles pray. They think they hear God's voice. They truly believe that they're hearing God's voice, and they're not.

You know, how many times, how many times do you have a conversation with yourself? And you start talking to yourself. And all of a sudden, it's like, that's another person. And you're talking, and you're like, wait a second, this is me.

Like, you know, and then sometimes when you're praying, you know, all of a sudden my voice starts to kick in. And it's like, I got to block that out. You know, I can't listen to my heart is deceitful above all things.

Right.

So I think it's I think it's bad teaching. You know, why would God give us the book of Proverbs? Right, because they love saying, oh, wait, the Proverbs says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.

Acknowledge me in all your ways and he will direct your path. See, I got to talk to God. Say, yeah, read the rest of the book of Proverbs. That's what it's about. That's God's ways. Those are what you should be studying.

I wouldn't need the Proverbs if I had a two way communication with God.

Right.

OK, so hopefully that's helping.

All right. Next.

Prayer, God's Will, and the Meaning of Persistence

Next motive. Do we repeat our prayers because we believe is God is unwilling to answer and we must prevail upon him somehow transforming a hard hearted God into a compassionate and loving one.

Right.

Sometimes we're asking and we want something so much. And God's answer is no right now. And we start thinking bad about God or he must not be loving or he must not love me. And we have to remember God is good.

God is loving. God is righteous all the time. So his no, although we don't like it is good. Again, an illustration I use is, you know, if my son came to me, dad, can you give me the keys to the car? I want to, you know, I want to take it out for a spin.

No, but that's going to kill my fun. I want to take the car out. No, you're going to hurt yourself.

That's it.

Sometimes God's answer is no. Now, is that mean or is that loving?

That's loving.

If I gave him the keys to the car, what kind of father would I be? He might think I'm good until he hits the tree and then I get mad and then I really kill him.

All right.

Enough of that illustration. I just blew it, didn't I?

OK.

All right.

Do we repeat our prayer because we think that God will be swayed in his decision by putting on a show of zeal or piety as if God cannot see through the thin, thin, thin veil of hypocrisy?

All right.

We put on a show. OK, look, look what I'm doing. That kind of thing. You know, a lot of times we or every time we pray in Jesus name.

Right.

But then we're asking God for something based on what we did.

No.

What is the word naming when we're talking about the name of God? Character, his reputation, his power in Acts chapter two or four. This is by in what for in what name we're talking to Peter and John who were arrested.

And what name were you doing this in what name or power? So we're praying in the name and the power of Jesus because he's perfect. That's the only way that God is going to answer that prayer all the time.

Right.

Sinful people bring our sin with us to God. So we pray in the name of Jesus, not my reputation or my authority or my power. I'm praying in the power of Jesus. Perfect authority. OK, we don't try to sinfully.

Sometimes we do try to base it on our own authority. And again, that's a prayer that won't be answered. OK, so how should we pray? Obviously, the Lord's Prayer. Does this mean we should never engage in importunate or unrelenting prayer, fever, fervently beseeching God?

Not at all.

Right.

The teaching of the parable is that we must continue in our prayers even when there seems to be no answer, because God, unlike the unjust judge, is loving, good and gracious. And we are his children. So, again, we not only trust God with the request, we trust God with the response, with the result.

So that if it's no right now, you say, OK, Lord, we trust that you're good. You're you're my father. Obviously, this is what's best for me right now. Right. We know that all things work together for God, for good, for those who love God.

We persist in prayer not because we have not have not yet gotten God's attention, but because we know he cares and will hear us. God hears all of our prayers. OK, his answer is yes, no or not. Now, we just have to be willing to surrender our wills to his will, remembering that he has a purpose in each and every decision that he makes and his purpose is perfect.

Our purpose sometimes is not perfect. Sometimes we ask according to his will and he grants it to us. Sometimes we ask not according to his will or with wrong motives. And the answer is no. OK, so how should we pray?

As we live in the in the not yet longing for the return of the son of man. Remember, this this parable was with regards to the coming of of of Jesus and judgment. Jesus is closing question has the same force as it did in eighty thirty three.

When and however, when the son of man comes, will he find faith on the.

Earth?

Right. So what what's that telling us? Are we going to continue to pray in faith to God who we know is our father, not as a persistent nuisance, nag, wanting what I want, regardless of of what we think God wants.

This is what I want. I know it's good. No. Again, we trust God with the results. Jesus's question implies that such faith will not be found on earth unless his disciples learn to always pray and not give up.