THERE WAS IN A CITY A JUDGE

The Lord now tells a parable about prayer, teaching His disciples ‘that men ought always to pray, and not to faint’.

Consider the truth of the parable. It is a parable of contrasts: the contrast between prayer and fainting; the contrast between a sinful judge and a holy God, and the contrast between persis­tently pleading with an unwilling judge and praying to a caring heavenly Father who delights to bless His children.

Prayer and fainting are not compatible. If we pray, we will not faint. If we faint, it is because we are not praying. While we continue to pray, we have not given up, not lost heart, not fainted. If we neglect to pray when times are hard, then we will faint and lose heart. Therefore we ought always, in every cir­cumstance, to pray and so ensure that we don’t faint.

See the contrast between the judge and God. The judge had no regard for God or men, just for himself. He was unmoved by the poor widow and her plight. She could not bribe him, so he dismissed her case. There was nothing in it for him. But she per­sisted in pleading her cause for so long that he relented and gave her justice. Why? Because her persistence annoyed him and wearied him until, for his own sake, he had to do the right thing by her. How different is our God! He delights in the prayers of His people, answering them readily with the sole purpose of doing them good and at the right time.

Note the contrast too between the widow’s persistent praying and our prayers. We do not need to persistently ask in order to be heard. Our Father hears and answers prayers with our good and His glory in mind. We can have every confidence in Him.

The Lord applies this parable to tribulation days when the remnant of Israel will pray for justice and will be swiftly answered by God, but only after bearing long with them. Why? Because He is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish. Judgement of the ungodly will surely come, but still God waits for sinners to repent.

Prayer is an amazing privilege. Prayer is powerful. The prayer of faith can produce miracles. Let us always pray and not faint.