18:1
We now move back to a series of parables followed by more teaching. Jesus has told them about the coming of the kingdom and how things will not go smoothly from a human perspective. Ie He may seem to be a long time coming, life will seem to be going on as normal, and there will be suffering. He now teaches them to be persistent in prayer. In the parable on money Jesus used the example of the dishonest manager to get their attention. Here he uses a widow who was, quite honestly, a pain in the neck, and an unjust judge. She made a nuisance of herself. In the earlier parable Jesus is teaching us to have a radically different attitude towards money. Here He is teaching us to have a radically different attitude towards prayer.
18:2-5
There is a judge who was not God-fearing nor concerned about people. There was also a widow who was demanding justice from some adversary or other. Being an uncaring fellow, the judge refused to help her, but she kept on and on at him. So eventually he decided to see that she did get justice. Not because of any concern for justice, nor for the woman, but because he wanted some peace and quiet.
18:6-8
So this unjust judge eventually brings justice. So how much more will God, who is perfectly just and does care for people, bring about justice and answer our prayers. The common attitude is that God is reluctant to answer prayers, or that it requires some special act on our part to persuade Him to do something. Jesus is countering this sort of thinking. If we look at Jesus’ life we see that He never had any doubt that His Father could and would answer prayers. “Will He find faith on earth?” We think the problem with unanswered prayer is that God does not want to answer, but the problem is not with God it is with our lack of faith.
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