Luke 18:1-8 (NRSV)
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Chapter 18Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. Verse 2He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. Verse 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' Verse 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, Verse 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" Verse 6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. Verse 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? Verse 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Devotion
I've often heard it said that prayer changes the heart of one who prays. Yet in this parable it is the unjust judge who has a change of heart. Worn down by the widow's relentless petitions for justice, the judge decides to grant her request primarily to get her off his back.
Jesus tells his disciples this strange parable teach them something about the nature of prayer. And of course, along the way, he also tells them something about the nature of God.
What if we are to see in the unjust judges in this story a God who responds to the widow's persistent and relentless pestering and then acts in justice and mercy to change our hearts and to help us see the needs of those we are called to serve? How might hearing this story encourage us to be persistent in our prayer, and confident in our trust that God will act in mercy for us and for our neighbor?
Prayer
Faithful God, you come to us over and over again each and every day. Help to change our hearts by your Spirit that we might grow closer to you in word, thought and deed. Amen.