A. Prayer is to be an on going practice in the Christian life (I Thessalonians 5:17).
B.  Jesus wants us to have the proper attitude and reverence in prayer as is displayed in the next parable he taught (Luke 18:9-14).

1.  Prayer should not be a show or an act (Matthew 6:5-9).

C.  Prayer is to be done with faith that God will answer Matthew 7:7

1.  Do not expect a thing if it is asked for without faith (James 1:6-7).

A.  Did not fear God nor have any regard [consideration] for man.

1.  (Ecclesiastes 12:13) “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

a.  Those who do not fear God obviously do not know much about God (Hebrews 12:28-29) “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.”

2.  The unjust judge violated two biblical principles (I Peter 2:17) “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”

B.  What kind of men should be judges?  Exodus 18:19-23

1.  Judges should judge with just judgments Deuteronomy 16:18-19

C.  The Lord is a righteous judge (II Timothy 4:8) “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

1.  He rewards us as we earn II Corinthians 5:9-11

a.  God’s judgments separate the good from the evil (Matthew 13:47-50).
b.  We are in the world, but those of the world will be separated from us (Matthew 13:24-30).

2.  All men will stand before the Lord to be judged Romans 14:11-12 “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
3.  God will avenge the saints Luke 18:7-8

a.  Romans 12:17-19
b.  II Thessalonians 1:7-10
c.  Hebrews 10:30-31 “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

A.  Widows depended upon the law [typically a widow was without family to help her] (Deuteronomy 24:17-21).

1.  The widow seeking help implies someone did something bad to her, which would be against God’s law and worthy of punishment.  (Exodus 22:22) “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.”

B.  The widow was persistent as we must be when we go to God in prayer (I Timothy 5:5) “Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.”

1.  Romans 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.”

A.  We do count on judges today to carry out justice (Romans 13:1-5)

1.  We should pray for those in that position and that they make godly decisions (I Timothy 2:1-3).

B.  We should be thankful that we have God who is a righteous judge.  Psalms 7:8-11 “8. The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.  9. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.  10. My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.  11. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”
C.  God is for us (Romans 8:31-32) “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

1.  We can have faith that he will answer our prayers Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Conclusion:
This parable teaches us that we have a God to whom we should continually pray to for those things that we need.  We should trust in Him and his ability to care for us through His providence.
 

Copyright 2001 by Brian Yeager may be reproducted for non-commercial purposes at no cost to others.