The Word This Week
Luke 18:1…
Jesus continues His journey to Jerusalem for the final time in His ministry. He next gives instruction, once again about prayer - and the privilege it is to be able to communicate directly with out Father Who is in heaven.
On a previous occasion, Jesus’ disciples had asked Jesus to teach them to pray, after observing Jesus constantly and consistently spending time in prayer.
In response, Jesus had taught them to pray - in the form of prayer we refer to as, ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’
Now Jesus teaches them how often we are to pray, and the kind of persistence we are to practice in prayer.
He teaches them the parable of the persistent widow.
Many times we see Jesus teach a parable in response to a question or statement of the Pharisees or His disciples which the parable He tells is meant to correct or illustrate.
Here it is as if this parable comes out of nowhere, but is that really the case? The context of this parable is that it comes immediately following Jesus telling the Pharisees and His disciples what will take place in the end times.
Then comes this seeming change of subject pertaining specifically to our need for persistence in prayer. Jesus cites a widow’s pleas before a worldly irreligious judge who had no fear of God. We know this because the judge in this parable says this in his heart about himself. We are not left to wonder what the judge’s motive for dealing with this widow’s plea is.
It is her persistence in asking.
Now if an unrighteous judge would answer the pleas of this desperate widow, how much more is our heavenly Father prepared to answer our pleas for justice upon this earth, once the Bride of Christ has been caught up to heaven?
The question is: When Jesus comes for His Church, will He find this kind of persistence in the prayers of the saints for justice on earth, or will we have settled into complacence while losing faith in His promise to return?
Pastor Bill
Jesus continues His journey to Jerusalem for the final time in His ministry. He next gives instruction, once again about prayer - and the privilege it is to be able to communicate directly with out Father Who is in heaven.
On a previous occasion, Jesus’ disciples had asked Jesus to teach them to pray, after observing Jesus constantly and consistently spending time in prayer.
In response, Jesus had taught them to pray - in the form of prayer we refer to as, ‘The Lord’s Prayer.’
Now Jesus teaches them how often we are to pray, and the kind of persistence we are to practice in prayer.
He teaches them the parable of the persistent widow.
Many times we see Jesus teach a parable in response to a question or statement of the Pharisees or His disciples which the parable He tells is meant to correct or illustrate.
Here it is as if this parable comes out of nowhere, but is that really the case? The context of this parable is that it comes immediately following Jesus telling the Pharisees and His disciples what will take place in the end times.
Then comes this seeming change of subject pertaining specifically to our need for persistence in prayer. Jesus cites a widow’s pleas before a worldly irreligious judge who had no fear of God. We know this because the judge in this parable says this in his heart about himself. We are not left to wonder what the judge’s motive for dealing with this widow’s plea is.
It is her persistence in asking.
Now if an unrighteous judge would answer the pleas of this desperate widow, how much more is our heavenly Father prepared to answer our pleas for justice upon this earth, once the Bride of Christ has been caught up to heaven?
The question is: When Jesus comes for His Church, will He find this kind of persistence in the prayers of the saints for justice on earth, or will we have settled into complacence while losing faith in His promise to return?
Pastor Bill