Persistent faith
“Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.”
Last week’s Kairos explored this parable, in which Jesus calls the disciples to persistent prayer. In this story, Jesus tells of a widow denied justice by a judge. She keeps going back to him, petitioning for justice. Eventually this judge gives her what she asks for. Not because he respects God or wants to do justice, but essentially to get this woman off his back. Jesus caps the story by saying the God, who loves us more than the judge cares for the widow, will be even quicker to respond to our cries for justice.
As we discussed this, several of us admitted to being uncomfortable with badgering God for what we want. One of the group expressed it well: “If I’m resting in my faith that God is supporting me all the time, then continually asking for what I want seems to mock that trust.” Someone else pointed out that the widow is seeking “justice,” not her own advantage; perhaps that is an acceptable thing to ask for.
Another question came up: Does Jesus have a deeper meaning in telling us to “pray always and not lose heart”? What could he be pointing to? The parable’s example of asking for justice, and our discussion about asking for our needs/wants, are focused on outward circumstances, looking for God’s intervention in our external world. What would it look like if we focused Jesus’ example on our internal reality? (more…)
