Pray Without Stopping

[Luk 18:1-8 NIV] 1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!' " 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 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? 8 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?"

Keywords: prayer, judge, widow, and justice

Prayer is a dialogue between God and people.[1]

Judge is an official with the authority to administer justice by trying cases. Exodus 18 provides an example of Moses in this role.[2]

The widow is a married woman that has lost her husband. The husband is the means for support to women.[3]

Justice is the standard by which penalties are assigned for breaking the obligations of society and the standard by which the advantages of social life are handed out. It is the standard for both punishment and benefits.[4]

The parable is about a widow requesting a wrong to be made right. In the time of the hearers, a woman depended on her husband, father, brother, or son to obtain justice on her behalf. In this parable, it appears the widow does not have any of the above to obtain justice on her behalf. The judge is not a God-fearer and is not concerned about the widow’s plight. The widow appears in his court day after day to be heard and granted justice. The judge finally decides that he may wear out before the widow and he hears her case. The moral of the parable is God is concerned about our plight in life. We are to continue to have a dialogue with God in the form of prayer. A solid prayer life is demonstrated by Jesus during his three years of healing the sick, preaching, and teaching.

What about you? Do you pray daily? Do you give thanks for the life that you are given? Find a positive daily and give thanks to God who gives freely. Pray the prayer Jesus gave to his disciples.

Matthew 6:9-14 NIV 9 "This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Bibliography

Church, Chris. “Judge (Office).” In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 938-939. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

Hatchett, Randy. “Prayer.” In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1291-1293. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

Mott, Stephen Charles. “Justice.” In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 947-948. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

Stabnow, David K. “Widow.” In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1652-1653. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015.

[1] Randy Hatchett, “Prayer,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 1291-1293. [2] Chris Church, “Judge (Office),” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 938-939. [3] David K. Stabnow, “Widow,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 1652-1653. [4] Stephen Charles Mott, “Justice,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2015), 947-948.