DECISIVENESS 4 - Keep on praying!

Decisiveness 4 - English file

Entschlossenheit 4 - German file

Devotional Thoughts about Luke 18:1-8

Even Christians can become very discouraged when they don’t see answers to their prayers. Jesus told this short parable to encourage those with a relationship to Him (in this case His disciples) to keep on praying.

The judge in the story is an insufferable man. He enjoys the perks of his job without even pretending to carry out its duties. But we’re all relieved when he finally moves, however reluctantly, to make sure reparations are made to the widow.

I’ve wondered why Jesus chose to compare this man to God. At some point my attention was drawn to the “how much more” pattern in the New Testament (see Matthew 7:11 and Hebrews 9:13,14 for examples). This turns out to be a Jewish system of logic (apparently codified by Hillel) reasoning from the lesser (or more obvious) to the greater (or more obscure) to make a point.

Jesus doesn’t even use the “how much more” phrase in this passage, but gains the same effect by putting the judge in juxtaposition to God (18:6,7). Most of us have encountered people like the judge and know how infuriating they are. But no matter how long we’ve been saved, none of us yet knows the full extent of God’s love, endurance and justice. Jesus encourages us to trust Him with everything.

Lord, help me to keep on praying for people and situations I see as impossible.

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