Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying,
There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying,
Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but
afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her
continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto
him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find
faith on the earth?
Comments by Pam Padgett
As I considered this parable showing us to continue in prayer with the problems we face, I was reminded of the following ...
Before I retired a few years ago I was leading a project at my job. Although five of us were assigned to the project, each of us were also given
other higher-priority assignments. No one, including me, had time to
make much progress on this project. The vice president for our area
requested status reports about the project periodically. These reports
were put together and presented by other people including my manager and
his boss. Although I gave accurate information about the project, what
was presented to the vice president twisted this information, making it
look like the project was progressing well. I spoke with my manager and
others involved in this deception, trying to get the truth reported, but I was
ignored.
I prayed about this, asking God to somehow work this
out and show me what else, if anything, I should do. I wasn't shown to
do anything else, so just continued to be truthful in what I reported about
the project and tried to get that reported. And I continued praying. This went on for about four months.
Then one day we were told that the vice president was coming to our
location and had requested a status report about the project while he
was here and wanted everyone on the project team to be in the meeting.
My manager, his boss and one other person were putting together a
presentation about the project. Again I provided accurate information,
but when I saw what was included in the presentation, it did not at all
reflect the true status.
I continued praying not only about what was being reported, but also
asking God to keep me from screaming out in anger when the presentation
was given. Right up to the time of the meeting with the vice president,
I was praying asking God to help me speak whatever HE wanted me to
speak and nothing more.
When the meeting started, a woman handed a copy of the prepared
presentation to the vice president and started to go over it. But the
vice president stopped her, saying that he wanted to hear from the people
working on the project. (In over 20 years working there, I had never
seen anything like this happen.) When he said this, I started speaking
and was surprised how calmly and clearly the words came forth telling
what was really going on with this project. Others on the project team
shook their head in agreement as I spoke. My manager and the woman who
started to give the prepared presentation sat in silence. When I
finished speaking, the vice president immediately took action to free us
from other assignments so we could work on the project. He turned to
my manager and gave him specific instructions in what to do.
Without a doubt, I knew God had worked all of this out, and in a way I never imagined.
When we have a problem, our help is in turning to God without becoming
discouraged or fainting. Continuing in prayer until we are helped in some way. Believing that God hears our prayer, knows what
help we need in the matter, and will give us the help we need in the way and time that is according to His will.
(With some problems we may be given grace to endure as Paul was with the thorn in the flesh ... 2 Corin. 12)