“Are You Pestering God?”
Luke 18:1-8
10-19-2025
In the name of Him who taught us to pray, dear friends in Christ. Our sermon hymn is from the old TLH hymnal. It didn’t make it into our new one. That’s probably because it wasn’t used enough to make the cut for the new hymnal. Be that as it may, the words of verse 5 says are very profound:
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death–
He enters heaven with prayer.
Did you catch that? Prayer to a Christian is like breathing. Your body can’t live without breathing and your faith can’t survive without prayer. Jesus makes that very point in our Gospel lesson. He’s teaching us that not only is prayer important, but it’s vital to our faith. And since it is so vital, Jesus tells us to be persistent in our prayer life. To illustrate this, He tells a parable.
Christ starts by telling us a little background on this judge in the story. He “neither feared God nor respected man.” Hey, now that’s the kind of guy you want on the bench the next time you’re in court, huh? This judge didn’t fear God. In other words, he thought he was God in his courtroom and ruled according to his whims. The sad fact is it’s quite likely that his decisions could easily be influenced by whomever paid him the highest bribe. Especially in the theocracy of Israel this was supposed to be an abomination. Over and over in the Old Testament God warns the judges of Israel to rule fairly and impartially. As in our country, justice was supposed to be blind. Rich or poor were to be treated equally. But some judges back then, just like some today, could be bought for the right price.
So, along comes this poor widow. It doesn’t say she’s poor but that’s a good assumption since she doesn’t seem to have the wherewithal to influence the judge in her favor. Besides, widows back then were usually in pretty dire straits if they didn’t have a son to provide for them. So, this widow goes to the judge and pleads her case. She wants justice simply for justice’s sake, but the judge ignores her. The one thing she has going for her is her persistence. This widow won’t take “no” for an answer. She’s determined to come back, day after day, until she gets justice. Finally, the judge gives in. Not because his conscience bothered him. Rather, he was tired from all her pestering. In verse 5 the judge says, “I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.” The Greek word there actually means to be beaten black and blue like in a boxing match. Figuratively, this widow’s constant badgering was beating the stuffing out of the judge. It’s pretty sad, though, that this judge finally gave this widow justice only because of her constant pestering.
Okay, so what’s all that got to do with prayer? Be careful here. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the judge in the story is God and we’re that poor widow. If that were true then I’d have to wonder about this God we worship. Is He just a supreme being who sits up in heaven, ignoring our repeated requests? Does He respond only if we pester Him long enough to make Him give in just so He can get some peace and quiet? Obviously not. God encourages and even commands us to pray. In this parable Jesus was using an extreme contrast. The whole point is: If this evil judge, who couldn’t care less about that widow, responded out of frustration, then how much more readily will God our loving Father answer our prayers?
Do you remember what Luther said in the Catechism about the Our Father portion of the Lord’s Prayer? He says, “With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.” God is not some evil judge who has to be bribed to get Him to listen. We don’t have to keep pestering Him in order for Him to finally hear our prayers. He loves us as a father loves His children and wants to give us all that we need.
In one sense, we are a lot like that widow in the parable. We have absolutely nothing to offer God which would make Him want to grant our requests. All we have to offer is our sinfulness. The truth is that God has every reason in the world to ignore and refuse every prayer we utter. But thanks to Jesus, and His innocent suffering and death, God does hear us. On the cross, Christ removed the sin which made us enemies of God. Through Jesus, we are now God’s children whom He invites to pray.
And yet, how often don’t we look at our prayers as pestering God? Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “I’m not going to pray to God about this little problem. It’s too trivial to bug Him with it.” Folks, there is nothing too trivial to take to the Lord in prayer. Jesus is telling us to go ahead and pester God with our persistent prayers. He doesn’t mind. In fact, He welcomes them.
On the other hand, we sometimes lose our confidence in prayer when we doubt its value and whether it does any good. And why not? From our earthly perspective it seems that even when we’re persistent, many of our prayers go unanswered. Now we’re back to looking at God as that evil judge who ignores our many and repeated requests. The real problem is that when we don’t get the answer we want then we either assume God’s not listening or doesn’t care, neither of which are true. All of our prayers should follow the pattern of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane where He concluded it with “Not my will, but yours be done.” What you are asking for may not be within God’s will for you. Or, He may have a plan for granting your request, but not immediately. We need to have confidence in His perfect timing.
Another pitfall we must avoid with prayer is thinking, “Well, God already knows everything I need and He’s going to provide it anyway, so why pray?” That’s only half true. God does indeed know what we need. But that doesn’t mean that He isn’t interested in hearing from His children. How would you feel if your child or grandchild just walked up, without saying a word, holding out their hand waiting for you to give them cash? I don’t know about you, but I’d just walk away. That’s not only rude and disrespectful, it’s also presumptuous. God wants a relationship with us because He loves us. He wants to converse with the children He loves. He wants to hear your concerns, your joys, your requests, and your thank yous.
Years ago, when I still received the Omaha World Herald, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ran an ad in the paper. He was a famous guru who’s big schtick was transcendental meditation. Anyway, he said that if a certain percentage of the citizens of Omaha would meditate and pray all at the same time then peace would descend on that city and the violence would end. The whole idea was that through sheer volume and repetition our deepest desires would come true. Is that what Jesus was teaching when He old us to be persistent in prayer? Absolutely not. In Matthew 6:7 Jesus says, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” A Lutheran theologian named Francis Pieper labeled that “battologizing.” Mindlessly repeating a prayer is not what will get God’s attention or make Him hear and answer you.
Rather, Jesus makes it very clear in verse 8 that faith and prayer must go hand in hand. After explaining the parable, He asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" The fact of the matter is the only kind of prayer that God listens to is one which is prayed with a sincere faith. After all, why pray if you don’t have a confident faith in the God to whom you are praying? If you don’t believe that He can or will answer your request then why bother? On the contrary, prayer is vital to the faith life of a believer in Jesus Christ. Remember those words from our sermon hymn? “Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath.” Prayer is to be as natural for us as breathing in and out. You don’t just breath when you’re in the mood. Likewise, we shouldn’t pray only when we’re “in the mood.” St. Paul picks up on Christ’s message when he says, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thess. 5:17)
Don’t be afraid to be persistent with your prayers. You are not pestering God. Just as Jacob in our Old Testament reading was persistent as he literally wrestled with God until he received a blessing, so we too can be as persistent with our prayers. God has made us many wonderful promises in His Holy Word and He encourages us to tenaciously cling to them like we’re in a wrestling match. By faith, we can hold onto those promises and never let go. Sometimes it may feel as though you have to wrestle with God in your prayers. But He isn’t doing that because He doesn’t want to answer you or that you have to somehow force His hand. Instead, He’s using that prayer time to strengthen your faith and confidence in Him.
So, Christian friends, be persistent in your prayers. God is listening and in love He will answer every request that you pray to Him in sincere faith. Pray and do not lose heart. God loves you and will hear you for the sake of His dear Son, Jesus Christ, who intercedes for you at the right hand of God the Father. (Rom. 8:34) Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!