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A Widow and a Judge
1Jesus told his disciples a story about how they should keep on praying and never give up:
2In a town there was once a judge who didn't fear God or care about people. 3In that same town there was a widow who kept going to the judge and saying, “Make sure that I get fair treatment in court.”
4For a while the judge refused to do anything. Finally, he said to himself, “Even though I don't fear God or care about people, 5I will help this widow because she keeps on bothering me. If I don't help her, she will wear me out.”
6The Lord said:
Think about what that crooked judge said. 7 Won't God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night? Won't he be concerned for them? 8He will surely hurry and help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone with faith?
Reflect
I stared at my bank balance in horror. It was around Christmas and thieves had skimmed the entire balance from my bank account. I was furious and also pretty worried. My bank assured me that the money would be returned. I just had to wait. So I waited. And I waited. After a week passed I went back to my branch – they told me to wait a few more weeks. I was tired of waiting.
With the help of a wise, media-savvy friend we took to Twitter. Through the power of social media we Tweeted for over an hour about my experience, until finally the bank grew tired of the stream of Tweets, relented and returned the money to my account immediately. As prayers of thanksgiving poured past my lips, the parable of the persistent widow came into my mind.
The bank didn’t just relent because I was upset. They gave me my money back because I was relentless. I was serious. They had tried to give me the brush off, and quickly realized I wasn’t going to back down.
I wonder if that’s some of what Jesus is getting at here in this parable. Through our prayers we show God how serious we are in our pursuit of what’s just and right. Our prayers are a reflection of our character and our passion. They also shape our character, strengthen us as people and attune us to listening for his voice. So keep praying. God is listening.
Respond
Dear Lord, Thank you that you hear our prayers and want us to come to you with our petitions. Help us not to grow weary as we wait for a response, and to never give up on seeking your action in our lives and in our world. Amen.
Mags Storey
Mags Storey is an award-winning novelist and journalist, who has lived in Canada, the United States, the Middle East and Europe. She has written for a number of not-for-profit and faith-based publications, and has been Senior Editor of ChristianWeek. Her debut romantic suspense novel, If Only You Knew (Kregel) came out in 2009, and she is publishing a thriller with Harlequin in 2013. She is drawn to a non-institutionalized Jesus and attends an Anglican church.