The Prayer of the Weary
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Luke 18:1-8
I am always impressed with the unseen yet unstoppable power of erosion. It is simply incredible that a consistent stream of water can break down a mighty boulder if given the time. It is unfathomable that a river had the power to carve the Grand Canyon into existence. We, like a strong boulder, are also at risk of erosion. As we go through this sinful and unjust world as Saints and Children of God, it is too easy to get worn down. Just our daily lives can be enough to carve deep channels in our joy and hollow out our hope.
I’m reminded of what Al Mohler once wrote concerning the notion of spiritual drift. He observed that one does not drift when they paddle the wrong way, but when they cease paddling all together. In much the same way, spiritual weariness does not come through some specific event or action but by the very nature of life on earth. It is through the passive act of existing in this world that leads to drift and decay and weariness.
Christ knew that this would be the case. In the passage right before the parable of the persistent widow He told His disciples that they would long for the “days of the Son of Man”. We exist in a state of sainthood and yet the flesh still tempts us. Though King Jesus reigns, Satan still roams this earth as its temporary ruler. Even as we live as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we still dwell in a world of darkness. These natural tensions and conflicts led Christ to teach us how to “pray always and not lose heart. We must say to Christ in this text, “Teach us to pray that we may not lose heart!”
The story of the persistent widow is a simple one. It contains only two characters and one problem between them. There is a judge. He is described as not fearing God or regarding people. This leaves him unmotivated by either societal obligation or moral law. Instead, his own interest rules him. And there is a widow. Her life as widow was one of poverty and dependence on the mercy of others. She had no leverage and the judge certainly wouldn’t be moved by pity. Therefore, she persistently bothers him until, as he is motivated by self, it became the most beneficial option for him to give her justice.
The most common explanation of this parable is that believers ought to endure in prayer for a single thing until God gives it in his own time. This is by no means an unbiblical assertion. As with many sermons in the modern pulpit, the question isn’t whether it’s true but whether the text is saying it. This matters because to claim that a text of Scripture says something it doesn’t is to shortchange Christians, giving them something other than the true and powerful Voice of God in the text.
If this passage isn’t an encouragement to pray with endurance, then what is it about?
The parable speaks of a helpless person crying out for justice and having to endure in their request through a delay. The problem with making this our application is that it does not sink deeply enough into the intention of the text. Yes, we must pray persistently. Yes, it will give us strength to not lose heart. It is not less than these things but it is more. Far more.
Christ begins this parable with the words “δε και” meaning “but also” or “indeed as well”. This tells us that we must look back to the previous context to see what Christ is commenting on. If we look back to Luke 17:20-37 we see that Christ is addressing the Pharisees and His disciples. The topic at hand is Jesus’ Presence on earth. First as the bringer of the Kingdom of God and then as the Coming King. In a remarkably sensitive manner, He tells His disciples that they would long for the days of the Son of Man. He warns them that in those days people would try to deceive them and that they should not give into fake announcements about the arrival of Christ.
He finishes off this section of the text by telling them that when He does come it will be unmistakable and totally unexpected. After emphasizing how unexpected His coming will be, He teaches them a parable to empower them to pray and not lose heart.
With context it becomes clear that the prayer that Christ spoke of was not a general prayer for daily needs, but the powerful prayer for King Jesus to return! This is how we are to live in the gap between the Incarnation and Christ’s Return! We are to long for it and to pray for it! Three reasons (and many more) can be given for how this kind of persistent prayer leads to strength and overcomes weariness.
The first way this protects us from losing heart is that we are able to connect our true and ultimate desire with its final fulfillment. Every person longs for heaven and yet what we do with this longing is unhelpful. We take our longing for perfect intimacy with the Father and indulge in promiscuity, unhealthy relationships, and unrealistic desires for our spouse. Our desire for the rest and pleasure of comfort is easily channeled into Netflix, oversleeping, Social Media, and idle living. The thing with these tributaries is that none of them can hold our longing because our longing far surpasses them. When we pray for the Coming Christ we embrace the true fulfillment of our longing and rely much less on unsatisfactory replacements.
Secondly, is that we are able to sum up all of our needs in one prayer. Implicit in our prayer for health is a desire for an incorruptible body. Within our prayer for self-control is the cry for the eradication of sin. Ever-present in our prayer for those near death is the desperate desire that death itself would be placed firmly and irrevocably in the grave. As we pray for the King to return we are able to bring to a head the summation of all our needs!
Lastly, within our prayer for the Coming Son is a prayer for permanence. What seems to wear us down more than anything in this life is entropy. Entropy is the scientific fact that all systems will trend toward disorder. At a very simplistic level, this world is taxing because the orderly and functioning never stays that way. Though God in His wondrous love may answer our prayer for health, sickness may return. All of the good in our lives now must be braced for coming evil. Remember the illustration of erosion? In the same way it is the constant stream of discouragement and wickedness that wears us down. In the powerful prayer for the Coming King, we pray for a permanent solution.
The last verse of this section only makes sense when we rightly view this passage. Christ asks His disciples and by extension all of us a question. When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth? The certainty of the Coming is matched with the uncertainty of our longing and our praying. Faith in this verse does not speak of Salvation, it speaks of faithfulness. When Christ Jesus descends to make all things right and new, will he be met with eagerness or with reluctance. Will we be people longing for heaven or craving this world?
The prayer of the weary is “Come, Lord Jesus, Come”.
