LEARN TO PRAY PERSISTENTLY

LEARN TO PRAY PERSISTENTLY (1)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses (Recovery Version) ~~~~~~~~~~

Luke 18:1 And He told them a parable to the end that they
ought always to pray and not lose heart, 2 Saying, There
was a certain judge in a certain city who did not fear God
and did not regard man. 3 And there was a widow in that
city, and she kept coming to him, saying, Avenge me of my
opponent. 4 And for a time he would not; but afterward he
said within himself, Even though I do not fear God nor regard
man, 5 Yet because this widow causes me trouble, I will
avenge her, lest by continually coming she wear me out. 6
And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7
And will not God by all means carry out the avenging of His
chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night, though He is long-
suffering over them? 8 I tell you that He will carry out
their avenging quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man
comes, will He find faith on the earth?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Part 1 of 2]
The widow in verse 3 signifies the believers. In a sense, the
believers in Christ are a widow in the present age because
their Husband Christ (2 Cor. 11:2) is absent from them. In
this parable the Lord indicates that the believers in Christ
have an opponent. This opponent is Satan, the Devil,
concerning whom we need God's avenging. We ought to pray
persistently for this avenging and not lose heart. Actually,
the Lord is not absent; He is present. But during His
apparent absence, we are a widow whose opposer is troubling
her all the time.

While our opposer is persecuting us, it seems that our God is
not righteous, for He allows His children to be unrighteously
persecuted. For example, John the Baptist was beheaded, Peter
was martyred, Paul was imprisoned, and John was exiled.
Throughout the centuries, thousands upon thousands of honest
and faithful followers of the Man-Savior have suffered
unrighteous persecution. Even today we are still undergoing
unrighteous mistreatment. Our God seems to be unjust, since
He does not come in to judge and vindicate.

Because of this situation, the Man-Savior in 18:1-8 uses an
unjust judge to signify God who does not seem to do anything
on behalf of His persecuted people. What shall we do in a
situation when we are persecuted and it seems that our God is
not living, present, or just? From this parable we learn to
be a bothering widow, one who prays to God persistently. It
seems that He is not righteous. Nevertheless, I have learned
that we need to bother God in prayer, that we should pray to
Him persistently without losing heart.
[Continued tomorrow]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible
(RcV) and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of
Luke, pp. 347-350. Both are published by Living Stream
Ministry, Anaheim, CA. 
LEARN TO PRAY PERSISTENTLY (2)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses (Recovery Version)~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 11:8 I say to you, Even though he will not rise up and
give him anything because he is his friend, surely because of
his shameless persistence he will rise and give him what he
needs. (9) And I say to you, Ask and it shall be given to
you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to
you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Part 2 of 2]
In Luke 18:1-8 we see the prayer from the visible realm. This
kind of prayer is related to our enjoyment of the jubilee.
Often the children of those who are faithful followers of the
Lord ask their parents why they are suffering persecution.
They may ask, "Since we love the Lord Jesus so much, why must
we suffer?" Usually the parents do not know how to answer. It
seems to the children that the Lord whom their parents follow
is not righteous. We also may wonder why we suffer, since we
love the Lord and follow Him. The parable in 18:1-8 answers
our question.

When our Husband is apparently absent and we are left on
earth as a widow, temporarily our God seems to be an
unrighteous judge. Although He appears to be unrighteous, we
still must appeal to Him, pray persistently, and bother Him
again and again.
We need to be careful in understanding a parable such as the
one recorded in 18:1-8. We should not try to understand it in
a natural way. On the one hand, this parable indicates that
the Judge is sovereign. This means that whether or not He
judges is up to Him. Seemingly without reason, He may either
listen to the widow or not listen to her. This parable
reveals that He is the sovereign Lord and that He judges
whenever He chooses.

On the other hand, this parable indicates that we need to
bother the Lord by praying persistently. We need to say to
Him, "Lord, praying is up to me, not up to You. You never
told me that I should not pray. On the contrary, You charged
me to pray. Therefore, Lord, I am praying now for Your
vindication." The significance of this parable is profound,
and we all need to know God as He is revealed here. We also
need to see that the kind of prayer described here helps us
to enjoy the jubilee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible
(RcV) and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of
Luke, pp. 351-352. Both are published by Living Stream
Ministry, Anaheim, CA.