One of the most poignant of Jesus’s parables tells the story of a persistent widow. Having faced injustice at the hand of an adversary, this woman appealed to the local judge. She asked him to use his power and authority to right the wrong that had been done to her. But to her sorrow, she learned this was an unjust judge who did not care to help her. Still, she returned to him again and again, she made appeal after appeal, until she wore him out. Eventually, if only to preserve his own sanity, the judge relented and responded to her pleas.
Jesus wanted his hearers to make a comparison from the lesser to the greater. If even an unjust and uncaring judge will eventually grant the pleas of someone he dislikes, how much more will a just and caring Father grant the pleas of the child he loves? Luke explains the moral of the story: We “ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).
It is for this reason that J.C. Ryle once said, “We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life.” Yet though we wrestle as if we are contending with a deadly enemy, still we have the tremendous blessing of knowing we are actually making our petitions to a loving God.
