Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect any person. 3 Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect any person, 5 yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge said; 7 now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long for them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8

We face all kinds of challenges in life. We face challenges at home, at work, and in our relationships. We meet events that rock us to the core and other challenges we easily overcome. The spectrum of challenges we face is broad, and our responses to these challenges vary accordingly. Depending on the severity of the challenge or hardship, prayer can be a vital part or a mere afterthought. We have to be honest with ourselves. How often do we thank God for a resolution but really think a resolution could’ve been reached with or without Him? From this point on, we must be like the persistent widow who nags a corrupt judge to do justice for her.  

The widow has nowhere to turn. She’s poor. She has no family. She has no money. In the Bible, a widow refers to a woman who has lost her husband. It also describes her financial situation where the main source of her income has perished. She is the poorest of the poor. God wants us in this position. He wants us to be like this widow in that we have nowhere to turn but to God. God wants us to look only to Him. He wants us to entrust everything to Him. He doesn’t want to be an option; He wants to be the only option. He wants us to obey only Him. 

In every situation we confront, God wants us to be the widow in Luke 18. Too often, we use God as an insurance policy or something to add to our efforts to solve something. We do many things on our own and sprinkle our efforts with some prayer. That’s not what God wants. He wants us to pray with the belief that God is the only answer, that whatever resolutions we reach have come from God. Like a mother who uses a fork or other utensils to feed a child, God uses people, things, and society, among other things, to save us. Yes, a person might’ve helped us. But God is using that person as a tool to help us. We have to get the order straight. 

Many of us pray, but our prayers are not heard. God does not listen to our prayers because He is worried we will turn glory to other things. In other words, we will thank or give credit to the tool instead of the source. And He doesn’t answer our prayers because He fears answering it will do more harm than good. It all comes down to becoming the widow. If we believe God is the only One, there’s no danger of turning glory to other things. With this kind of faith, God answering prayers can only do good for us and our salvation. 

God waits for us to reach a point of complete desperation before listening to our prayers. He waits for us to reach the temperament of this widow. When we are full of despair and have nobody or nothing to turn to, God inclines His ears to us. He answers our prayers. Reaching this point of despair is painful but necessary in our relationship with God. He wants us looking only to Him! And once we become trained in reaching this point of desperation, we become adept at putting everything in God’s hands, big or small. It’s not just the life-changing crisis that we seek God in complete desperation; we do the same for the little things in our lives as well. Big or small, safe or dangerous, we put it all in God’s hands.

God has everything we need, and He can solve all our problems. We get into trouble when we dilute God and think He is a part of the solution instead of the sole solution. Ask God and receive only from God! If we adopt this simple principle, however low we go or how full of despair we feel, the almighty God will provide us with everything we need. Like the widow, we must reach a point of despair where we look only to God for answers. 

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1981-2-25-full