Parable of the Persistent Widow
Message by Josh Mutter – October 31, 2021
Big Idea – Prayer is a practice that expresses our relationship with God.
Luke 18:1-8 NIV
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 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!’”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Prayer is often expressed in the midst of discouragement.
When we pray we have the ability to affect change.
Persistent prayer is one of the ways that we express our relationship with God.
Five Benefits of Persisting in Prayer
- Persistent prayer grows our faith.
- Persistent prayer leads to patience.
- Persistent prayer helps our discernment.
- Persistent prayer leads to gratitude.
- Persistent prayer reveals our own role.
Practice
- Identify 1 thing to pray about for the next 7 days
- Set aside a time that you can pray everyday for 10 minutes
- Make it a conversation
- Then make space to listen
Resources:
- Teaching Series – Comforting Words for Difficult Times
- Book – Stanley Grenz, Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom, 2005.
You can watch the sermon on Youtube here.
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