The Widow and I

My favorite parable from Jesus is the one about the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. Take thirty seconds (seriously, it’s only eight verses) and read it. In this parable, we see a widow knocking on the door of an unrighteous judge pleading for justice. The judge eventually gives in to what she asks for because of her persistent knocking on his door. 

What I love about this parable is that it teaches us to “pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). I, for one, can attest to the difficulty of praying the same exact prayer for months (and in some cases years!) Do not get me wrong, it can be discouraging to pray for years for someone to become saved, or to be healed, or for help. But the reason I keep bowing my head, and closing my eyes before God, is because I am taught in the Word to not lose heart when I pray. Again, the purpose of the parable is to encourage us in our prayers, so that we do not pray once to God, hear nothing back, and then choose to stop praying. Keep praying persistently! Pray without ceasing! God honors persistent praying.

We do this not in an attempt to “wear down” God into giving into us, much like a spoiled child begs and begs his or her parents for something until they relent. Rather, we pray day in and day out to honor God by “making our requests known to [Him]” (Phil 4:6). The ending of our experience may not be like the widow’s, where she gets what she wants, but regardless, we pray and honor God in all outcomes. We will always pray to God “with no doubt” (James 1:6) that He can answer our prayers. We should never lose heart when we pray to God. There may be lessons He is teaching us throughout our persistent praying. Lessons of patience, perhaps? Or maybe lessons of trust or perseverance?

Whatever the case may be, when I am faced with a circumstance where I pray over it every chance I get, I recall that parable from Jesus. In those moments, I am comforted that to know that He hears my prayers, wants to hear my prayers, can answer my prayers according to what I ask, and no matter what, will bring about His perfect and most excellent will. May we approach prayer much like the widow in Luke 18. Do not lose heart in your prayers my friends.