Connected in The Word 10-14-25
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1
Imagine for a moment that you are at your doctor’s office, and you are waiting to hear some important test results. When the doctor walks in, he begins the conversation by telling you that it’s important to pray and not lose heart. I don’t know about you, but at that point I’m preparing myself to hear some bad news. After all, if the test results were good, I can’t imagine he would be giving me a pep talk about keeping my chin up and saying my prayers. I wonder if the disciples had the same suspicions when Jesus said He wanted to tell them a story about praying constantly and not losing heart?
Jesus tells a story about a persistent widow who seeks justice from a judge who doesn’t care about her, God, or anyone but himself. He ignores her for a while, but she just won’t go away. He eventually grants her justice – Not because he had a change of heart, but because her persistence is wearing him out. So, what’s the point of the parable? Is Jesus saying that if we just pester God enough that He will eventually get sick of us and answer our prayers? Absolutely not! Jesus wants us to know that God is NOTHING LIKE THE JUDGE IN THIS PARABLE!
When Jesus calls us to pray constantly and not lose heart it is NOT because He has bad news for us, but because He has GREAT NEWS for us. Our Judge is Righteous and Merciful! There will be times when your accuser, the devil, will present some damning evidence before the Judge. He will tell of all your sins and may even bring a few witnesses. But Jesus tells us to pray and not lose heart. Why? Because the verdict is already in – God’s justice was delivered at the cross. God is NOT a crooked judge who ignores the evidence of our sin. He is a Righteous and Merciful Judge who lays our sin on Jesus and gives us New Life in our Resurrected Lord. In the face of sin, death, suffering, and even bad test results – We pray and we don’t lose heart because the Holy Spirit testifies on our behalf and boldly declares that we have been justified in and through Jesus!
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