Reasons to Pray

Text: Luke 18:1-8

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            I don’t think that it’s too far outside anyone’s imagination here to think of a time that you played fetch with a dog. You throw a ball or other toy, and they chase it down. If they’re playing by the rules, the dog brings it back to you; if they’re really playing by the rules, they’ll give it back. Then you throw it again, they retrieve it. Rinse—sometimes literally—and repeat. I also don’t think that it’s too far outside anyone’s imagination to picture a dog that wants to continue fetching even after you’ve had your fill of the fun. Very often, we get tired of playing long before the dog does.

            Jesus tells a parable today that teaches us something much more serious, but along a similar line of thought. It’s about prayer. He tells a parable about an unrighteous judge who doesn’t fear God and doesn’t care about people—not qualities anyone would want in a judge—and a widow who’s seeking justice in a court case against someone who is making her life miserable with this lawsuit. So she repeatedly goes to the judge saying, “Give me justice!” For a while the judge resists and withholds giving her what she’s asking of him. But afterward he thinks to himself, “Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down with her continual coming.” Because she is doggedly going back to him time and again, in court and out of court—we can imagine her trailing him in the marketplace and following him to work and standing outside his house making this request over and over—because of her persistence, he gives her what she asks for. The lesson in this parable is to be continual, even tenacious, in prayer; to not get tired of praying before God gets tired of hearing from us. But it’s easy for us to do—to grow weary of praying long before God tires of us talking to Him. It happens in different ways and forms, but St. Luke tells us that this is exactly why Jesus has to set this parable before us: “And [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

            All too often we drop the ball on that first part, “always to pray.” We’re not always continual in our prayer life. We get distracted by other things, by notifications and sounds and light and the constant streaming of content and noise coming in from the frenetic world. We start to think of ourselves as too busy; having too many other tasks to tend to instead of prayer, and if we don’t do them all, then the world will stop turning and our lives will be ruined. We become forgetful, just putting it off until it’s pushed right out of our minds and schedules, and not picking it back up. These are all bad reasons not to pray. It would be like telling your doctor that you’re too busy to take a vital prescription, you simply just don’t have time in the day to put the medicine in your mouth and swallow it. Or it would be like forgetting to go to bed, or go to work, or eat, or breathe. These are bad, even foolish reasons for not doing something that we know is good, even critical, for our well-being. So Jesus tells this parable about a widow who will not get what she needs until she makes a point of going to see the judge frequently and constantly.

            Jesus also tells this parable for those who are praying, but are losing heart. They’ve been praying, perhaps for the same thing for years, perhaps for a miracle, perhaps for something as simple as daily bread or relief from a troubling situation or healing or peace. But it’s not coming. It looks like it’s not ever going to arrive. So you start to worry. Maybe God isn’t listening. Maybe it’s beyond what He can grant. Maybe it’s up to you. Maybe He’s angry with you. Maybe you need to do something for Him first before He’ll give you what you’re asking for. Doubt starts to creep in that maybe God doesn’t care. The tempter whispers that maybe He isn’t there at all or that He despises you.

            Take courage, believer. Your God is real and He does hear you. He is not vindictive or spiteful. He is not some unrighteous judge who cares nothing for mankind. He cares a great deal about mankind—and that includes you. In fact, it’s an understatement to say that He cares a great deal. He cares and loves you more than anyone else ever could. He gave His Son to bear your sins, your sentence, your punishment, your griefs and pains and all the situations that hurt you. Jesus has taken on the separation that you had from your God, absorbing all your misdeeds that would have prevented God from hearing you, but are now removed by His cross. The Son of God came to receive the greatest injustice of all at the hands of humans, who He still willingly died to save, all so that your cry of “Give me justice!” is heard by the Almighty and Righteous Judge. More than that, He’s risen from the dead to elevate you to a status you’ve never had before: to stand before the throne of God, and covered in the grace, the righteousness of your Baptism, of Jesus’ blood given and shed for you, to ask whatever you will of your God and know that you are heard, loved, and answered.

            If even an unrighteous judge ends up giving the widow what she persistently asks for, if even he eventually does the right thing, how much more will the God who loves you answer your prayer with what you need? That’s ultimately the reason we pray—because we believe that God is merciful, compassionate, righteous, and that He loves us for Jesus’ sake, which means there is no greater love than that. Knowing that is what creates the kind of faith that can pray through the storm; that can hold on, even through the years. It’s the prayer of faith—faith in your heavenly Father and the cross of Jesus that gives you access to Him; faith that clings to His promises and never lets go.

            I could stand up here and tell you that you just need to pray more, or do this or that, or suggest alterations to the mechanics of how you do it. But would just be more rules, more Law, which is not at the heart of why we pray. It might work for a time, but it would eventually fall off again. All things based on our strength or endurance or discipline or methods always do fail. Instead, I will tell you this: The Son of Man has gone through death and risen again to open the door of heaven for you to stand at and pray. He has opened the treasure chest of the Father’s heavenly throne room and it’s all yours for the asking. He has forgiven all your sins so that there is nothing between you and your God to block your requests from reaching Him. He has united Himself to you in His body and blood so that every time you pray, He’s praying along with you—and there’s nothing that the Father will withhold from His Son. So speak to Him. There’s nothing in the way now. He’s righteous. He always does the right thing. Ask, seek, knock, and never tire of doing so, for your heavenly Father never tires of hearing from you. In the name of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.