elevate update November 14

A simple and profound parable in prayer.

Luke chapter 18. Jesus is telling a story, and he lets the disciples no point of the story before he even begins.
Which is more than I can say for a lot of people that I talk to, but that's another story.... and I'm not sure what the point would be anyways.

Jesus spoke of a judge, in a certain city, who had great contempt for everyone.
We need to take a moment to understand how the disciples would have immediately understood what he was talking about.
The city could've been one of hundreds that they would've been familiar with.These cities built around agriculture with a main street crowded on either side with the marketplace.everyone in the city would have been familiar with each other in a good chance in some way related to one another. (Not with inbreeding, but just the culture of the day).
The judge would have been selected so that commerce and family business could be officially taken care of in town. He was probably someone everyone knew including the other main character in the story.The widow.

The widow had probably lived in the city since marriage at a young age. Her husband was probably a life long city member. This is something we infer because usually in that culture the men would stay in their family units, and the wife would be chosen from a neighboring city or family unit.
She had been wronged, and is my guess it has something to do with inheritance, land, or some form of provision that her husband had left behind so she could survive. There's a good chance that whoever wronged her did so by being aware of her weakness because he knew her, or was related to her in some way.

Justice was all she had left, and the only person who can give it to her was the judge.
This judge had one major personal characteristic, he had contempt for everyone. It's a nice way of saying that he was a prideful arrogant prick. His arrogance and pride probably became a part of his life when he was chosen to be judge. I sincerely doubt that he would then given that position by his friends and relatives had he been someone who showed that sort of arrogant contempt for everyone prior to the position.
This judge ignored, laughed at, belittled, and disrespected the widow. The widow continued to make her request known. This request would have had to been done in person at the city gate. I'm guessing she was down there almost daily,and if not daily then definitely regularly.
The judge lasted as long as he possibly could (which I'm guessing must of been several months) and then he gave in. He not only gave in and heard her case he gave her justice, which is exactly what she was asking for. He gave in because he said that he was going to drive him crazy if he ignored her anymore.

Jesus said at the beginning point of the story was to show the need to be consistent in prayer.
That if an unrighteous arrogant prideful judge would eventually give a ruling consistent with the Kingdom of God, how much more would a righteous just God give a ruling consistent with His kingdom.
That if an unrighteous judge could eventually be broken down, how much easier through consistent prayer would a loving judge/God also give us what we ask for.

Some other side notes that we picked up were these.
The widow was asking for something that was consistent with God's will. The Bible does make it clear that only ask anything according to Gods will he will give it to us.
The request was made personally and vocally. I believe it is important that whenever possible we pray out loud. That allows us to affect the atmosphere around us. Through consistent verbal requests the atmosphere of the city changed around the judge and even he was moved in compassion. If she had written a letter, or had only gone once or twice, I don't think she would've changed the atmosphere around the judge.
The right for God to rule is based on His righteousness and justice. Not on His power or knowledge. We here especially in the western culture often look to gain knowledge and power in order to feel justified and righteous in judging others. With God it's because He is righteous and just that His power and knowledge are used as they should be.
Praying for judgment on others is not praying the will of God. The will of God is justice, the will of God is love, the will of God is to bring His kingdom and its characteristics here on earth. We need to be careful that we don't try to control God's knowledge and power. We need to pray the will of God, and let Him answer as He wills.

It's a fun little story and we had a lot of fun kicking it around