A lesson about prayer teaches us about God's character.
2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’
4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
Jesus wanted to teach his disciples some more about prayer, he had already granted their request to learn how to pray in Luke 11:1-4 when he gave them what we call "The Lord's Prayer." This time around he wanted to teach them about the longevity of prayer and the nature of the person that we are praying to.
In Jesus lesson about praying, he talks about the persistence that may be required before getting an answer and he talks about seeking justice from God for the wrongs that are committed against us.
Our God loves justice
Job 34:12 Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice.Jesus told his disciples that they should be faithful in prayer, doing it always without giving up, just like a nagging woman that won't stop. The judge in the story made it clear that he didn't play favorites and that he was fair with everybody. That's how it is with God, he is our impartial judge and he will bring justice, it is a part of his nature that cannot be changed.
Psalm 99:4 Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness. You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel.
We may have to pray for a long time about the same injustice but we can have hope in the fact that God is just and he will eventually make everything right in this world. No wrong will go without punishment except for the wrongs that have been forgiven by Jesus blood.
God wants us to be just
Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.The world that we live in is a very unfair place, things happen everyday to people that don't deserve it and other people get away with stuff that they shouldn't have. God wants us to seek justice but it is something that we should seek for others more than for ourselves.
Mercy and kindness should rule in our lives and we should strive to treat other people fairly. Throughout the Bible we find the message from God to deny ourselves, treat each other fairly and help out everybody that you can, we should let our heavenly father be the just judge that he is and let him deal with the wrongs that are made against us.
God's justice is:
- Impartial - 1 Peter 1:17
- Infallible - Hebrews 4:13
- Inescapable - Romans 2:3
- In Christ - Romans 3:25-26
Help me Lord to reverse the trend of society by helping others and being nice in this world that needs a lot more niceness. Help me to pray without ceasing for all of my needs.
