“Then Jesus told His Disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1
The parable Jesus then tells, is one that has been called, “The Parable of the Persistent Widow”. It tells of a woman who approaches an unjust judge looking for justice against an adversary. Although this judge neither fears God nor cares about people, he finally acquiesces to the widow’s request simply because of her persistence in petitioning him. The point that Jesus makes is that God, Who is just and loves His Children, listens to those who bring their requests to Him and He desires to help them.
In a previous devotional, I had commented that God answers prayer in three ways; He can say “yes” or “no” or sometimes it is “wait, not yet.” Usually it is apparent when God says “yes” because we have received our request. But, sometimes it is difficult to tell whether God is saying “no” or just “not yet.” In such circumstances, we should prayerfully discern as to whether what we are asking for is in God’s will or just something we want or desire on our own. If we truly feel that what we are asking for is good and right and according to God’s Own nature then we should continue to pray for it.
The parable tells us that God approves of us petitioning and repetitioning Him. He wants us to fervently approach Him in prayer. St. Paul commented on how he prayed three times for a certain request and that it was only after he was sure that God had said, “no” that he stopped asking. It was then that God reminded Paul that although the answer was “no” that nevertheless, His grace was sufficient for him.
Do not be discouraged in prayer! Continue to approach God and whatever His answer may be, you will be blessed regardless!
Know that you are loved!
Peace and Joy,
Pastor Kilian
