Luke 18:1-14
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’
In today's passage, we hear two parables about prayer.
While the first parable is often interpreted to be about the virtue of persistence in prayer, the second parable might strike as a bit more odd today, when there is less public religion in general. But perhaps, these types of prayer are still said. Who is the person praying before God? If we don't recognise ourselves as fundamentally in need, fundamentally dependent on God, we miss the point of prayer. We pray because we need; prayer is a posture of need, of receiving, of open hands before God. If we have this posture, God's merciful and gracious nature can be seen, as God meets with us, communes with us, and restores us to the fullness of life.
May we pray in a posture of need today. May we never stop praying and relying on God. And may we find in that prayer that we meet with God and that God brings us into the fullness of life.