Luke 18:1-8 NKJV**
1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”*
Prayer is not unique to Christianity. Christian prayer is not unique in its claim to access great power, [i.e. the power of God the creator of the universe.] Islam and Hindu probably claim the same for Allah or the myriad gods of Hindu. Christian prayer is not unique in its claim that it changes behavior. Again other religions may claim the same. For example Eastern religions which emphasize meditation may claim that it also changes behavior.
What could be unique to Christianity is the almost universal difficulty we feel to stop daily and pray. [Confession: Until later in life I was a most egregious repeat offender in this regard.] As encouragement to me and others however, we can observe the life of Jesus. It is recorded in the first four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that Jesus prayed and that He prayed a lot. It is recorded He sometimes prayed all night like in Luke 6:12. This is remarkable considering His claim to be the Son of God which we might think could have entitled Him to a less rigorous means of communication. For other notable examples of Jesus' praying see Luke 3:21, Matt. 14:23, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, and Luke 9:18. Consider that Jesus prayed long and fervently as told by Matthew in chapter 26 verses 36-44 and John 17:1-26. Note that in John 17 He prayed for himself, the disciples and even for all of us who would believe on Him in the future. We know from Luke 18:1 that He expected us to pray also.
So you may ask, "Bro Jerry, what's the point? Well, the end verse of the story found in Luke 18 is the point and it is very disturbing. Jesus' story is about someone seeking justice from her adversary. We live in a day when many of our brothers and sisters in Christ in many nations are persecuted cruelly. One of their oft repeated prayers is for justice. Justice from God above and justice from their nation's ruling authorities. Their pleas seem to fall on deaf ears. God is indeed bearing long with them, though in reality, in the time frame of Heaven, He will avenge them speedily. Will persecuted Christians have faith to persevere though God bears long with them?
What about us? Have we forsaken prayer because God bears long with us? As modern people are we impatient for the answer? Do we feel we have not received justice? Have we become discouraged? Has our faith suffered as a result?
It is possible there is much more to prayer than meets the eye. Could a consistent prayer time be a spiritual discipline to which we should be faithful even though He bears long with us? Luke 18:8 concludes with the words "...when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” As commanded in V.1 if we will always pray, I believe He will.
Your friend,
Bro. Jerry
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*(bold letters are my emphasis)
**All scripture quotations are from the New King James Bible. If re-posting also include credit to All Peoples Church of Arizona and its web site apcofaz.org.
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