Learn to Pray Persistently (1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bible Verses~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 18:1 And He told them a parable to the end that they ought
always to pray and not lose heart, 2 Saying, There was a
certain judge in a certain city who did not fear God and did
not regard man. 3 And there was a widow in that city, and she
kept coming to him, saying, Avenge me of my opponent. 4 And for
a time he would not; but afterward he said within himself, Even
though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 Yet because this
widow causes me trouble, I will avenge her, lest by continually
coming she wear me out. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the
unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God by all means carry
out the avenging of His chosen ones, who cry to Him day and
night, though He is long- suffering over them? 8 I tell you
that He will carry out their avenging quickly. Nevertheless,
when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Words of Ministry~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Part 1 of 2]
The widow in verse 3 signifies the believers. In a sense, the
believers in Christ are a widow in the present age because
their Husband Christ (2 Cor. 11:2) is absent from them. In this
parable the Lord indicates that the believers in Christ have an
opponent. This opponent is Satan, the Devil, concerning whom we
need God's avenging. We ought to pray persistently for this
avenging and not lose heart. Actually, the Lord is not absent;
He is present. But during His apparent absence, we are a widow
whose opposer is troubling her all the time.
While our opposer is persecuting us, it seems that our God is
not righteous, for He allows His children to be unrighteously
persecuted. For example, John the Baptist was beheaded, Peter
was martyred, Paul was imprisoned, and John was exiled.
Throughout the centuries, thousands upon thousands of honest
and faithful followers of the Man-Savior have suffered
unrighteous persecution. Even today we are still undergoing
unrighteous mistreatment. Our God seems to be unjust, since He
does not come in to judge and vindicate.
Because of this situation, the Man-Savior in 18:1-8 uses an
unjust judge to signify God who does not seem to do anything on
behalf of His persecuted people. What shall we do in a
situation when we are persecuted and it seems that our God is
not living, present, or just? From this parable we learn to be
a bothering widow, one who prays to God persistently. It seems
that He is not righteous. Nevertheless, I have learned that we
need to bother God in prayer, that we should pray to Him
persistently without losing heart.
[Continued tomorrow]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from
the Recovery Version of the Bible (RcV) and Words of Ministry,
from Watchman Nee, Messages for Building Up New Believers, pp.
347-350. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim,
CA. (Repeat 3/4/02)
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