In Luke 18:1-8 we discover another one of the colorful parables of Jesus.  It concerns a judge, probably a pagan judge, who becomes so exasperated with a Jewish widow that he gives in to her request for legal assistance.  The judge describes her doggedness in seeking help this way: “I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming” (v. 5).  Simply put, she wore him out!  And in order to get rid of her for good, the judge relented.

What’s very interesting about this parable is that in verse 1 we are told exactly why Jesus used this story in order to teach the Disciples: “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

Here we have a lesson, in the form of a parable, concerning prayer. It addresses not only that we “ought always to pray” (v. 1), but that must do so in the manner of the widow in the story, by crying out to our Father “day and night” (v. 7).

The title I’ve assigned to our sermon for this Sunday is, “The Necessity of Exasperating Prayer.”  And we will consider why we must pray this way–in the fashion of the widow–but also to whom we must pray–in stark contrast to the reluctant judge.