Presented by Julie Busteed

When you’re in God’s waiting room do you ever think that if you just pray more or fast more or do something more that this will get God’s attention? That there is something you need to do. I used to think maybe I’m not in his will, doing something wrong, or not being persistent enough—which is why he’s not hearing or answering my prayer.

Are you familiar with the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8)[1]? Jesus begins by telling his disciples this parable to show them they should always pray and not give up. And to me that meant relentlessly praying, even begging, and almost trying to bend his will to my prayers. But I don’t think that’s the point! Briefly the parable goes like this:

He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me’” (Luke 18:2-5)!

Here is an unjust corrupt judge who doesn’t fear God or care about people. And a widow, who particularly in those days is quite vulnerable. She has no provider or protector. And she’s asking for justice. Repeatedly. But the judge refuses. Finally, she wears him down because she keeps “bothering” him and he gives her justice. And to me this meant I need to wear God down with my prayer requests in order for him to answer. I thought that I needed to continually bug him to get his attention. That somehow the accumulation of my prayers would make a difference.

I don’t think this is what Jesus was talking about. That would be equating God to this unjust judge, and he is not at all like that. He cares about us, he cares about justice, it’s his unchangeable character. And I am not like the nameless widow. God knows me, loves me, provides for and protects me. Jesus tells us why he told this parable in verse 1 to show that we should always pray and not give up. And that can be hard to do when you’re in that waiting room.

When you and I persist in praying, in talking to God, our hearts become more inclined to his. It’s a life of prayer that we are called to—a life of continual conversation with God. And it’s more about how our hearts and minds can be transformed to his. So yes, pray continually. And trust that in his perfect timing he will answer.

As the Psalmist said: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope (Psalm 130:5 ESV).

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[1] Dr. Kent Hughes, “Living in the ‘Not Yet’” Series: Luke, January 8, 2008, https://preachingtheword.com/av_item.php?avid=579