Nobody who quits easily ever achieves anything great. It takes considerable fortitude and resilience to breakthrough barriers that will resist your advancement and progress in life. A breakthrough is usually the climax of a series of seemingly insignificant (and often monotonous), but steady efforts made towards the realization of a goal. In our world of quick fixes, following a regular pattern over a length of time, before experiencing the manifestation of results, is not fashionable. There are very few people who persevere to the point of breakthrough. However, in God’s view, this is the means of arriving at true and lasting success in life.
Jesus probably had this in mind when He told His disciples a parable to the effect that, “… men always ought to pray and not lose heart,” (Lk 18:1). The morale of the parable is that perseverance in prayer is indispensable to a successful relationship with God as Father (with all of the attendant responsibilities). Perseverance has been aptly defined as, “Continuing in a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure.”
The account of the widow and the unjust judge in the Bible aptly illustrates the truth, that whoever will experience meaningful success in life will have to deal with discouragement, opposition and failure. And no where is this more the case than in maintaining an effective prayer life. Prayer is the foundational principle of a successful Christian life—for what oxygen is to the natural life, prayer is to the spiritual life.
At first, the widow’s plea for justice from the judge fell on deaf ears. Have you ever been in a situation in which your efforts to secure attention and consideration, meets with stiff indifference? If so, then you have an inkling of the widow’s plight. Nothing would make the judge budge. After all, he neither feared God nor regarded man. There was nothing, by way of humanity, in him to which the widow could have appealed for consideration and justice. The widow’s ordeal from injustice did not elicit his sympathy, let alone an effort to get her justice. The judge simply did not care about the widow and her problems.
However, in spite of his obvious indifference to her, the woman would not let him be. She had made up her mind to get justice, come rain come shine. Her’s was a case of genuine perseverance because neither the opposition, nor the discouragement, nor yet the failures she had experienced would deter her from her earnest pursuit. Eventually, the judge had a rethink: “… but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”” (Lk 18:4-5). The only reason the widow got justice was because she persevered until she overcame the judge’s resistance.
Fortunately, the parable is more of a portrayal of contrasts than it is of similarities. Hence, God is not like the unjust judge in the parable, whose reason for getting justice for the widow was to get her off his back. Neither is our relationship with Him like that of the widow and the unjust judge. It is just as Jesus asked: “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?” (Lk 18:7). He answers His own question: “I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”” (Lk 18:8). Unlike the widow who meant nothing to the judge, we are God’s elect, and, therefore, very precious to Him. He not only welcomes, but more importantly, encourages us to persevere in prayer as a demonstration of our faith. Our persistence in prayer takes hold of God’s willingness to respond to our earnest plea for His help. “… men always ought to pray and not lose heart…” (Lk 18:1). Therefore, PUSH—pray until something happens. Shalom.
