The Principles of Prayer LIX

 Jesus never spoke the widow’s name, and I believe it was purposeful. It’s not because Jesus didn’t think women worthy of being remembered by name, or that He thought them lesser in some way, but because she served as a structural prototype of true character, grit, and determination.

Rather than singling out Judy or Marge and saying, “Look at her,” He spoke of the widow in a manner that is understood as something to aspire to in terms of boldness, confidence, and an unwillingness to suffer injustice.

Perhaps her first audience with the judge wasn’t overtly demeaning, but come the second, third, and fourth, it’s a certainty that she saw his eye rolls, heard his sighs, saw his body language, and understood her presence wasn’t something he relished, looked forward to, or was overly joyful over. Some people have a gift when it comes to letting you know they’d rather not be around you without having to utter one syllable. I admit it may be petty on my part, but it’s those people’s skin I like to get under. I don’t care if you have a sable fur hanging around your droopy, wrinkly neck, or you’re wearing mechanic’s overalls covered in oil; I’m going to treat you the same. I’m going to treat you like a human being.

It’s more than likely she felt the condescension. It’s evident she realized she was being dismissed by the judge day after day without her pain and injustice being acknowledged or validated. Even so, she persevered and continued to come before him until he relented.

Unlike the unjust judge, it is God’s good pleasure to fellowship with His children. He will never roll His eyes, or think, Oh, it’s him again, or her again, don’t they have anything better to do? He will never be too busy to hear your prayers. He will never leave you waiting in the outer court for hours, sending messages via interns or secretaries, telling you that He is overburdened with other appointments, but you should try back tomorrow when His workload looks a bit lighter.  

The Word tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. It goes beyond mere acknowledgment of coming before Him in prayer, or Him being aware that we are praying, He is present, He inhabits the praise. He is intimately, singularly focused on the individual during the time of their praise, prayer, intercession, or thanksgiving.

Men go out of their way to feel the touch of the divine, to feel the presence of God, to tap into something more than the physical, resorting to all manner of foolishness and gnostic practices that do nothing more than confuse and take away from the one true God, when all that is required to feel His presence is to bring Him praise, come before Him in prayer and supplication, and know that He is present.

The reason so many resort to something other than the simple acts of prayer and praise is pride. It’s an unwillingness to humble oneself, to come before God as they are, as they know themselves to be, bruised, broken, faithless, dirty, lost, wayward, and blind, and acknowledge their need for restoration, rebirth, renewal, and newness. They cling to the notion that they can fix themselves by themselves without having to surrender their life, their will, or their hearts, believing all they really need is someone in their corner to cheer them on, or some ethereal experience that can be replicated by something other than falling on their faces at the foot of the cross and letting go of the pride of life.

At the risk of being the bearer of bad news, there is nothing that can replicate repentance, surrender, and obedience. Whether transcendental meditation, ayahuasca, magic mushrooms, or some guru tapping your temples with a brass pestle while chanting unintelligible words, there is no substitute for the grace, love, or peace of God, and no adequate replacement to being washed and made clean in the blood of the Lamb of God.

Transformation requires change. Rebirth requires the death of one’s old self. They do not occur of one’s own volition or by one’s own strength but by the intervention of God, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, and it is He who will do the work in you. The only thing required of us as individuals is to submit to His will and not resist Him as He begins to mold, prune, cleanse, and transform.

If the first prototypical example the widow showed was that she knew the truth and stood on it, the second example we would do well to heed is that she was consistent. She did not grow weary in pleading her case before the judge. She did not give up, go away, or relent whenever the unjust judge rejected her plea; instead, she continued unabated in pursuing justice for herself.

She was childlike in her insistence and persistence. I have two daughters who have intuitively learned that if dad says no the first time, he might say yes the hundredth time just to get a modicum of peace and quiet.

The latest example of this in the Boldea household was the acquisition of a puppy. No, I didn’t want a puppy. There was no future I could envision for myself where I would get greeted by a tail-wagging furball every time I entered the house. Yet, their insistence and daily query as to whether we could get one, when we would get one, or if it wasn’t time to get one, finally wore me down, and I relented.

If they’d asked once, twice, or ten times and given up, it would still be just the four of us. Because they persisted and were consistent in their pleas, slowly but surely, they got me to relent. For the longest time, I was the holdout. They’d convinced my wife long before they convinced me, and her out was that dad wasn’t on board, so we would have to wait until he agreed. My saying no a hundred times did not deter them, nor make them any less enthusiastic about their request. It was the same with the widow who continually came before the judge to plead her case.

Be consistent in your prayers before God. Whether you’re praying for a son, a daughter, a father, or a mother, whether you’re praying for healing in your body, or a greater measure of faith, it’s never one and done. Stand on the truth that God hears the prayers of His children, that if we knock He will open, that if we ask He will answer, and press in.

It may be that He answers your prayer in a different way than what you’d envisioned or hoped for, but He will answer because He is a good God who is engaged and available, who can do all things beyond what you can perceive, who works miracles, and brings light in the darkest of places.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.