The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the eighteenth chapter:
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? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Jesus told them the parable that they might always pray and not lose heart. It’s written for you, for all people. He doesn’t want you to lose heart; He wants you to always pray. Now, we all know these people, right? The people who just assume that God is going to grant them the desires of their hearts because they ask or because they know best. Or what about the people that the church calls “prayer warriors?” As if God somehow hears their prayers more than another’s. Your prayers are effective, and they are enough. I’m not saying it’s bad to engage in prayers with other people, like you get people praying with you. I’m not saying that it’s good just to pray once. But, what I am saying is that Jesus gives you permission to pray and pray often, pray always.
Now, there are lots of ways to pray. And we’ll talk about those, but let’s talk about what prayer is first. What is prayer? I asked some of the students what prayer was and the overwhelming response didn’t surprise me, because I hear it all the time, is prayer is a conversation. And that’s the wrong answer. Prayer is not a conversation. If that’s the case, I pray to my wife every day. Even worse, I sometimes pray to my dog. But that’s the thing, prayer is not a conversation. A conversation requires two parties conversing back and forth. Prayer is an invitation from God to you that you might speak to Him your praise, your thanks, your needs, your wants. He doesn’t anywhere promise to speak back to you. You will likely never hear His voice on this side of eternity. The vast, vast, vast majority of people never have and never will. And that’s okay. God doesn’t need to speak back to you when He’s already promised that He will answer every prayer you bring to Him.
Just think about this: the God of the entire universe wants to hear your voice. He wants to hear it so much that He invites you to come to Him with whatever you can think of. He wants to hear it. He even gives you a prayer to pray when you can’t think of anything else, the Our Father. You, out of His great love, are so dear to Him that He cannot wait to hear you. And, though He doesn’t speak back out of the air, He has given you His Word so that you can hear Him. In fact, the best prayers you can pray are repeating God’s Word back to Him. “Lord, you have promised to forgive our sins. Please do so for me.” Almighty God, you created the world in six days. Use that same power to bring the world safely though these trials.” “Holy Father, you said we should listen to your Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to do just that.” Those are how we pray God’s Word back to Him. He loves that. You hear His word, you take it to heart, you ask for what He has promised. What could be better? The fact that He wants to hear it from you makes everything better.
Prayer, not a conversation, is making, by God’s own invitation, your requests, needs, and intercessions known to Him by your voice. Now, can you pray silently in your head? Sure, God knows your thoughts. But, I know that when I do this, I often lose track of my thoughts, I get distracted, I forget where I’m at while praying. Praying silently totally works, though I think it might be better for quick intercessions than long times spent in prayer. Can you speak in quick words? “Lord, save me.” Is that enough? You betcha. The Lord knows what you need before you do, and the fact that it comes in three words as opposed to 200, that’s no problem for Him. Can you pray while you read the Word? Yes, in fact, reading God’s Word is prayer, in a sense, because it tells you your needs and how God is meeting those needs even as you go. Can you pray by singing hymns or reading or chanting psalms? Definitely. St. Augustine is said to have stated that to sing is to pray twice. Now, I don’t know that he said it, but it sounds nice.
Here’s the thing: however it is that you are able to pray, do it. And when you lose the words, you still have what you need in the Lord’s Prayer. And even when that’s difficult in coming out, you most assuredly have the groans of your heart, where the Spirit intercedes for you in like manner, knowing your every need. Jesus has invited you to pray, to ask for what you need, to even ask for more of God Himself, and you should. That’s what this parable means.
Now, this parable doesn’t do that by saying that if you annoy God like this woman does the unrighteous judge that He’ll just give in to you. Rather, this parable says that the judge was annoyed by the woman because he was unrighteous, but God is righteous, and He is never annoyed by you, and He gives you all things out of love. Jesus did not tell the parable to give you permission to be annoying and demand of God whatever you want. Jesus told the parable that you might pray and never give up, and that God, out of His love for you, will give you justice, even more than the unrighteous judges of this earth.
What is that justice now? We’ve talked about praying to God in praise, honor, for our needs, for our wants. But what of justice? This justice Jesus speaks of is the idea that God will come to avenge His elect, to defend them, to comfort them in hardship. That’s what true justice is, and He will certainly not withhold any of that from His people. When we are weak, heavy laden, downtrodden, persecuted, abused, slandered, then we may cry out to God, as this widow did the judge, for justice. And He will deliver. It may not be as we see it, though it will come swiftly, but it will be according to His will. He will deliver this justice to you.
This justice comes firstly through the Church, where those who are seeking justice against wrongdoing find themselves forgiven of their wrongdoing, that they may stand before this Holy God. It comes through the free forgiveness of sins, through the strengthening of faith, and through the promise of life everlasting which is delivered to you. It comes through the prayers, through the hymns, through the reading of the Word, through the preaching of the Word, through the Sacraments. Secondly, this justice comes through the consolation of the brothers, the dependence of each of us on the other, that we might console ourselves with Christ. Thirdly, it comes through the world, that those who do righteous deeds have nothing to fear, but that evildoers should run with shame. And fourthly, it will come when God raises us each from dead into everlasting life. What better way to be vindicated than to come back to life after those in the world would want you dead.
This is what we’re looking for in our prayers, that we should not lose heart. Jesus Christ has come into this world to redeem you, and to bring to you a way that you might be known to God. Through the blood of Christ, a bridge has been made between you and God that you may cry out to Him through that blood for justice, for mercy, for all things that you need. And do not lose heart, for God will give it to you through that very blood of Jesus. Because of His life, death, and resurrection, the God of the universe loves you and chooses you for His own. He will give you all things according to His mercy. And out of His love will He vindicate you, give you justice.
Approach God in prayer how you want to. There’s really no right or wrong way. But approach Him knowing His Word. Approach Him knowing of His goodness. Approach Him knowing of His holiness. Approach Him knowing of His righteousness. Approach Him knowing that He has promised to bring you life, forgiveness, salvation, and justice. Approach Him knowing of His love for you, just for you, and for the whole world. Know that He will give you exactly what you need because He is good. He is the good Judge of all and He has judged you to be holy as His Son is holy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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