Title: Pray Always. / Luke 18:1-8
Pray always
Luke 18:1-8
One day, while driving through the Yeongchang Musical Instrument Factory in Gajwa-dong, I saw a small tent set up in front of the main gate. As there were boards with slogans written around the tent, it seemed to be protesting the unfair dismissal from the company. As a third person passed by, it didn't look good, but what would the officials think? Siege is a method that a powerless person can use to carry out his will against the powerful. The text tells the story of a siege against an unjust judge. Through these words, Jesus teaches Christians living in the last days a lesson about prayer.
First, we must always pray.
The lesson from the text can be easily found in verse 1. Jesus told this parable to teach us that we should always pray and not lose heart. For convenience, let's break this into two parts.
Pray always.
A similar teaching can be found in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18.
"Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
You are told to pray always and pray without ceasing, how is that possible? That would never mean doing nothing 24 hours a day, just praying. It doesn't mean that you should pray for a week, a month, or a year like that. Because it is virtually impossible to do so. The Lord who spoke these words also paid great attention to prayer and prayed for a lot of time, but he did not do anything else and devoted himself to prayer. Those who live in prayer centers do not just pray.
Then we can't help but wonder how we should understand the command to pray always. Through parables, the Lord has shown us what it means to pray always.
The widow in this parable is introduced as an example of a person who prays. She has a bitter grudge. Perhaps the enemy took advantage of her widowhood by pretending to help and defrauding her. Perhaps the enemy killed her husband innocently. She pleaded with the judge "often" (v. 3). This was taken by the judge as a widow's "always coming to supplicate" (v. 5).
This is what it means to always pray. Christians must come “frequently” to the throne of grace in order to receive God's mercy and to find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). You don't have to go at a set time once a day. If you pray with faith, you can taste the comfort the Lord gives you after praying no matter how difficult the situation. However, after a certain amount of time, if it becomes a burden on your heart again and it becomes difficult to bear, pray again at that moment. Pray like that twice, three times or even four times. Didn't the Lord pray that way in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Second, don't be discouraged.
The judge the widow visited was a man who did not fear God and disregarded people. In a word, he was an unrighteous man, a proud and self-righteous man.
He did not listen to the widow's visit to her, despite her pleas. He had no interest in the widow's suffering. Maybe it's because he didn't pay a bribe. Maybe it's because it's too complicated to solve. He rejected the widow's petition several times. Nevertheless, this widow was reluctant to give up. However, the judge reluctantly changed his mind, thinking that the widow's frequent visits to her supplications were annoying and would continue to be the case.
It is said that the wife of former Central Intelligence Agency Kim Hyung-wook won on the 25th of last month in a lawsuit filed against the state and residents over 400 pyeong of land in Samseon-dong, Seoul, which was confiscated by the state. Kim Hyeong-wook went to the United States in 1973 and went to the US Congress in 1977 to criticize the Park Chung-hee regime and to engage in anti-government activities, but disappeared in Paris in 1979. The Park administration prosecuted Kim by enacting a special anti-state law in 1977, and the court sentenced him to 82 years in prison and 7 years in prison and confiscation of property. His fortune is said to be around 30 billion won. How much resentment his wife must have had since he had lost so much of his fortune. In the meantime, you must have petitioned the relevant authorities a lot to get your property back. When the civilian government came into power, they first filed a lawsuit against some land, but by winning the case, they will be able to recover the remaining confiscated property, including 17,000 pyeong of land in Sindang-dong, Seoul and 57,000 shares of Daehan Mill .
In telling this parable, Jesus asks the question, "Will the good God hear the prayers of the children chosen by the good God to grant the widow's request, even the unrighteous judge has nothing to do with him?" He said something similar in the Sermon on the Mount.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, will he give you a snake? Will you not give it to me?” (Matthew 7:9-11)
Prayer is a Christian's privilege as a child of God. God answers the prayers of Christians day and night.
Jesus added that God will answer, and He will answer quickly.
"...will you be patient with them? I tell you, you will soon avenge them..." (verses 7, 8).
We should not blindly understand that these words guarantee prompt answers to all prayers. Given the prompt answer, verse 1 would not have taught us to pray all the time. There would have been no need to elaborate on not to be discouraged. This means that God responds quickly when he thinks, not when we think.
God never makes a mistake. Are there any prayers that you are praying in the will of God but have not yet been answered? He will intervene promptly and answer our prayers when he deems most appropriate. Don't be discouraged if you don't get a quick response. Galatians 6:9 is also true about prayer.
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not grow weary” (Galatians 6:9).
Third, we must have strong faith.
Finally, Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes, will you find faith in the world?" This shows that the text is related to the account of the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the previous chapter. Earlier, Jesus emphasized that no one can accurately predict the time of the Second Coming. Now, if we relate the parable of the text to that, it is to not be discouraged even if His Second Coming comes sooner than expected. Rather, He will surely return at the appointed time and at that time He will avenge the chosen ones by breaking the power of evil, so believe firmly in this fact and do your best in prayer.
Of course, this is the primary meaning of the text, but the teaching of the text need not be limited to this. These words can be widely applied to the prayer life of believers. We should also pray persistently on many other issues that are not answered immediately.
Jesus says it will be hard to find faith in the world when He comes again. The second coming of Christ will be a great blessing for believers, but a great disaster for unbelievers. When God judged the world in Noah's day, only 8 people were saved. When the judgment came upon Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot's time, only Lot and his two daughters were saved.
Modern society is a fiercely competitive society. Because we too are swept away by this social atmosphere, we are always in a hurry. It is not easy to find time to be still. It is not easy to pray quietly.
“When the Son of Man comes, will you find faith on earth?
Doesn't this sound like a saying that there will be few people who believe in God's answers and pray consistently, especially in the last days?