Approaching God

Luke 18:1-17

When my kids were young they seemed to always need something very urgently when I was speaking to someone on the phone. I specifically remember times when I was sitting at the kitchen table engaged in a conversation and there came a tap, tap, tapping on my shoulder. “Mom...Mom...Mom.” Totally oblivious to the fact that I was speaking to someone, they insisted on my immediate attention. It didn’t matter that they just wanted to know where their other shoe was or to show me a rock they had found. I know – important stuff to kids. It is those memories that come back to me every time I read the beginning of Luke 18.

Jesus, it says, “was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.” He gives them two parables and then an example of how they should receive the kingdom of God.

The first parable tells of a woman who needs legal protection from someone and goes to a judge in her city to make her request. In the past I have read this portion of scripture and mistakenly thought that it meant that if we pester God enough, He will eventually answer. I missed the point entirely, and quite a few of the details of the story. It plainly says that this judge did not fear God and did not respect people and he was unwilling to provide this woman with the protection for which she asked. He was, however, interested in his own comfort, so, because she kept coming back to ask again and again, and this annoyed him, he granted her request.

Jesus brings out a principle in this parable now known as the “How Much More Argument.” In the first century a renowned Jewish teacher, Hillel, and other scholars, developed this argument to arrive at sound interpretation of the scriptures. We see this method employed by Jesus in many of His teachings, especially in the Sermon on the Mount. “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” Matthew 6:26. “Consider the lilies of the field, more beautifully clothed than Solomon, here today and gone tomorrow. Will He not do much more for you?” Matthew 6:28-30

In Matthew 12:11 & 12 Jesus speaks of a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath and that it is right to pull it to safety. Then He says, “HOW MUCH MORE valuable are people than a sheep!” And in Matthew 7:11 Jesus says, “If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?”

So, this ungodly judge in Luke 18 who granted a request reluctantly out of annoyance can only be used as a juxtaposition to our loving Father who will bring about justice for His children who cry out to Him. The lesson here is perseverance in prayer. Shortly after the Duke of Wellington led his troops to victory in the decisive battle against Napoleon and the French at Waterloo, he was asked to compare the courage of the two armies.  “My soldiers were not braver than the enemy,” he observed.  “But they were brave five minutes longer!”  Ask and keep on asking.

The next parable about the Pharisee and the publican is used to teach us to approach God in humility. The Pharisee arrogantly thanks God that he is not a “swindler or unjust adulterer” like the tax collector praying nearby. He forgets that God looks at the heart and what God sees in the tax collector is humility, sorrow for his sin, and a desire for God’s mercy.

Persistence and humility. In I Thessalonians 5, Paul says to “pray without ceasing.” Is that even possible? It is if we see prayer as more than just words. Prayer is more than speaking to God with our head bowed. Prayer is an attitude of heart. Prayer is a spirit of dependence upon God which is sometimes expressed in words but probably more often in thought and attitude. I feel it is a continual awareness of God’s presence, so much so that I can speak to Him in my car, while pulling weeds, or standing at the kitchen sink. I can express joy, concern, praise for Him, and thankfulness. He is as close as the mention of His name.

Jesus ends his lesson by rebuking the disciples for keeping the children away from Him. These little ones are also a lesson for those listening. Not only should we be persistent and humble in prayer, but we should receive the blessings of God’s kingdom as little children. We are, after all, His precious children in Christ and He longs to be gracious to us.

Persistence, humility, and child-like faith. Come to Jesus with these and He will not turn you away.

Praying always,

Jo