And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:1-8

God, according to his timetable, gives justice to his people speedily. The unjust judge gave justice simply because he didn’t want to be inconvenienced anymore by the crazy old widow who kept complaining to him and crying out for justice. He didn’t give justice for noble reasons. This unjust judge did not fear God as the ultimate judge of the earth and the judge to whom this earthly judge would give account. He had no respect for humans since he did not fear God. Why should he respect people made in the image of God? (As a side note, why are we surprised when our fellow humans who do not fear God behave as if there is no God to whom they will give account? It is logical for depraved humans to act in a depraved manner.) The unjust judge dispensed justice for selfish reasons, to get peace and quiet from the widow.

One of Jesus’ points in this parable is to highlight the character of God. God does not reluctantly dispense justice for his people who call upon him. He doesn’t dispense justice because we pester him to death. We are his elect, those whom he loved from before the foundation of the earth.

I find this story to be seemingly internally contradictory. On the one hand, Jesus tells us that God dispenses justice to his elect speedily. But in the same story, he tells us not to lose heart. The implication is that we have to persist in supplications over time to see justice done. Otherwise, why would there be a danger that we would lose heart?

Prayer is to walking with God like breathing air is to staying alive; both are essential to life. The first is our spiritual life and vitality, and the second is our physical life. One cannot have a prayerless life and expect a dynamic, Spirit-filled existence. The two conditions are incompatible.

So Jesus makes it simple enough that fellows like me can understand, “I ought always to pray.” That doesn’t need elaboration. Paul made a similar statement that gets to the same point, “Pray without ceasing.” If we are going to be disciples of Jesus, those who obey all things he commanded us, then we will live a constant life of prayer.

What about the “and not lose heart” part of this story? One will lose heart when he loses hope. Biblically, hope is something that is assured, but it is still in the future. When we lose the assurance of a future expectation, we do lose heart. How do we maintain assurance? In the story, Jesus pointed out the character of God as the basis of our assurance. God is not compared to the unjust judge; he is contrasted with the unjust judge. God is not like the unjust judge. God’s relationship to us, his elect, is that of being foreknown or foreloved from before the foundation of the world. We are elsewhere referred to as the apple of his eye. We are not seen as irritating petitioners who must be satisfied, so we will leave God alone. No, it is his great delight to give us his kingdom and all good things.

This awareness of the God with whom we have to do allows us to continue to pray for big things over time and not lose heart. If we have the attitude to persuade God to do what we want or give what we ask, then we will lose heart because we misunderstand who our God is. And who we are in his sight.

Pray in accord with the heart of God and see God move heaven and earth to answer that prayer because it expresses his heart. James tells us that prayers are not answered because we pray with the wrong motives.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions

James 4:3

Pray God prayers. Prayers straight out of Scripture. Prayers that Jesus commanded us to pray. Then you can have absolute confidence that your prayers will be answered. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. That is a prayer to hang on to.

We ought always to pray and not to lose heart.