SHAMELESS and AUDACIOUS PERSISTENCE
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)
This well-known story Jesus told has a clear and stated purpose. He told them a story so that they would “always pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1) He was assuming that they would find themselves in circumstances where they could have prayed but chose NOT to. Similarly, they may choose to pray, but when their prayer was not answered, they would decide to STOP.
I would say that Jesus made the right assumption. At least I find myself qualifying as someone who, at times, could pray and should pray but choose not to pray. I can’t think of a good reason why that is the case, it just happens to be true. Perhaps you are the same? I also qualify at the other end of this experience. I pray for things for a while and then stop for no worthy reason.
Jesus said that when we indulge ourselves in either of those two ways, we will miss the exciting opportunity of seeing prayer supernaturally fulfilled. In both cases the matter involves the exercise of our faith. When we need to pray and choose not to, we are choosing a path of unbelief rather than faith. When we pray, and when nothing happens, we stop praying we do the same. Our choice exposes our unbelief.
I’m sure you will be aware that Jesus told several stories to explain this kingdom principle. He talked about a man who had a visitor arrive late at night. Having no bread to offer, he went to his friend and next-door neighbour. Even though he was a good friend, Jesus makes clear to us that it was not friendship that made the neighbour get up and give him bread. The word in the original text is one that is used only on this occasion. It is the word anaideian. It really needs two English words to carry the meaning: “shameless persistence” or “shameless audacity.”
The same will be true for the woman’s and the judge. I love the way Jesus describes her actions from the judge’s point of view: “yet because this widow keeps bothering me” and “so that she won’t eventually wear me out “(v. 5). The NIV translators have overlooked the context when they assume that the word should be taken in its literal sense. It does literally mean to “smack someone hard in the eye.” But the context is all about her shameless persistence.
Jesus is at pains to make sure we don’t presume that God is anything like the judge who is devoid of both moral obligation and civic responsibility. On the contrary, God is committed to bring about justice without delay. The idea that God is uninterested, or hard of hearing or capricious is also out of the question. In this story there is no doubt about the righteousness of the woman’s plea. The issue is whether people will choose to exercise faith in the first place – and make prayer the initial priority. The second is whether they will choose to exercise faith in the second place and persist with prayer as the ongoing priority. He's not just talking about someone who prays for the same thing once a week. This prayer is going where people :”cry out to him day and night.” In my experience that has happened, but not often. As far as Jesus is concerned, this should be part of our normal operations.
It all comes down to “shamelessness” and “persistence.” It’s about attitude and conviction, rather than reason and respectability.
Have you ever been in the situation where you need to keep asking in prayer about the same matter? It’s a challenge. There is very little issue with mounting passion and faith when you begin to cry out to God on behalf of something important and urgent. What about the second time? Well, yes, it works the second time much like the first. How do you go when you are asking the same thing for the fiftieth time? Now, that’s another whole challenge. Persistence does indeed attract a kind of shame. Why isn’t God hearing you. Are you at fault? Is there some sin that is “blocking” God from answering?
In the story of the widow and the judge, the widow seemed to have a shamelessness about her persistence. The judge had heard everything she said many many times over. There was no new information. No doubt, in the early part of this interaction, he was presuming that she would get tired of asking and give up. In the end, he is convinced that she will never give up to the point where he decides to give up resisting and grants her request just to “get her off his back.” In her case, her shameless persistence wins out against his stubborn resistance. When he is convinced that she is never going to stop – I mean never, he accedes to her request, not because of any sense of morality, but just to rid himself of her presence and her relentless intent.
When I ask why we need this same relentless faith, I can only surmise that it has to do with the nature of the battle, the faith-through-prayer battle. And I can only explain it in this way. When we see a situation where there is need, injustice, suffering, pain, estrangement, and all the other things that set themselves against the will of God, it means there is going to be a battle. Paul cites the nature of our enemy at the end of his letter to the Ephesians: “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but principalities and dark worldly powers and spiritual forces in the heavenly realm.” (Ephesians 6:12)
I take the view that God has set up a way for us to engage in that battle as co-workers with himself. When we pray, we are actively and directly engaging with the enemy in whatever manner that enemy is responsible for whatever dark, destructive thing is happening. So our praying is not to impress God, or to earn points. It is part of the redemptive force against the spiritual source of what may be a very physical, social, or moral problem. It may be drawing a long exegetical bow, but I think David, may have been referring to this in the beautiful words of Psalm 23 when he says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows” (v.5).
When we are at war, we have this amazing privilege of worship and prayer. It is not just about enjoying the presence of God but is an active weapon in the battle. If that battle needs to be fought over a longer period, so be it. We are part of the army of God and when we choose to pray, we become part of the prevailing army. When we decide not to give up we will get to be part of the victory celebration. The seeming audaciousness will have nothing to do with arrogance. It will be the result of faith. When we engage with the assurance of winning the battle, we will always seem “shameless” and “audacious” to those around who don’t see what we see or intend what we intend.
The question is, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find (this kind of) faith on the earth?”
Assignment:
What are some of the things you need to pray for with shameless persistence. Make a list.
Start praying for these things night and day and see how your shamelessness is holding up when your tally is up over 50 times. See if you can get a feel for direct involvement in the battle. See if you can be unashamed about the same prayer request.