Now He was telling
them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose
heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear
God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she
kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For
a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do
not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me,
I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear
me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now,
will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and
night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will
bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will
He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8, NASB)
There is a home I pass by from time to time. Directly in
front of that home, a portion of the sidewalk is grooved and worn. It is the
evidence of years, or perhaps decades, of its metal entry gate scraping the
sidewalk. As I walked past the house today, a thought came to me: If the homeowners had only made one attempt
to open the gate, then no one would have known that the gate was positioned to
create such a marked depression in the sidewalk.
There are potholes on Pelham Parkway (a major thoroughfare
in the Bronx). The weight of thousands of cars and buses riding over the same
area every day, compounded over time, causes the road to dip and chip under the
accumulated pressure.
Jesus, during His earthly ministry, shared a parable. The parable
concerned an unjust judge, who feared neither God nor man (see Luke 18:2),
and a woman who made regular appeals to the judge for vindication (see Luke 18:3). At the end of the parable, Jesus notes the response of the judge: 'I
will grant this woman’s appeal so that she doesn't wear me out.' (see Luke 18:5)
I wonder if, when we think God hasn’t answered a particular
prayer, we may have in actuality given up on a prayer that was in the process of
being answered, but was not yet at a
point where we could clearly see the dent our prayers had made. Some of the
situations we face are, indeed, as tough as concrete. These difficult cases
require time and the steady application of spiritual pressure through prayer.
Our prayers, on the first attempt, may seem to have
zero effect on the situation being prayed about. In fact, things may seem to get
worse. But though the first attempt may seem to have no impact, don’t be fooled.
There is an impression being made, a breaking-up of seemingly impenetrable ground.
It may take months, or years, but at some point the cumulative effect of our prayers will
be visible and measurable. Like the widow in the parable, we are called to come
back to the place of prayer day after day, asking the same petition, without
wavering.
“Now He was telling
them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose
heart.” (Luke 18:1)
