Persistent Prayer and Unwavering Faith: Wrestling Until the Blessing - Sermon by Revd. Walter Macdaniel for 18th Sunday After Trinity
Persistent Prayer and Unwavering Faith: Wrestling Until the Blessing
Scripture Readings (NIV):
Gospel: Luke 18:1-8 (The Parable of the Persistent Widow)
Old Testament: Genesis 32:22-32 (Jacob Wrestles at Peniel)
Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5 (The Call to Endurance and Scripture)
Introduction
Brothers and sisters, have you ever felt the temptation to give up on a long-held prayer? To look at a prolonged struggle—a sickness, a financial crisis, an unsaved loved one—and conclude: "This isn't going to change; God isn't listening"?
Jesus Christ, our Lord, understood this temptation deeply. That’s why the Gospel writer Luke prefaces our main passage with a profound directive: "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1).
Our theme today is Persistent Prayer and Unwavering Faith. We are called not merely to pray occasionally, but to pray always, and to refuse to surrender our hearts to discouragement. We will see that true persistence is not about badgering an unwilling God, but about demonstrating a deep, unwavering faith rooted in His character, even when the waiting is hard.
1. The Necessity of Persistence: The Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8)
The parable of the persistent widow and the corrupt judge is Jesus’ primary call to tenacious prayer.
A. The Setting: A Study in Contrasts
Jesus presents us with two characters who stand in stark contrast to God and His people:
The Widow (v. 3): She represents utter vulnerability and powerlessness. Widows in that era had no protector and no legal leverage. Her only recourse was her voice, her persistent plea for justice.
The Judge (v. 2, 4): He represents complete unrighteousness. He is a wicked man who "neither feared God nor cared what people thought." He is governed only by self-interest.
The widow's plea is simple: "‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’" She repeats it relentlessly. The judge finally acts, not out of goodness, but for convenience: "...yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!” (v. 5). He yields to her sheer, irritating persistence.
B. The Inference: The Nature of Our God
Here is the essential, reformed principle of this parable: It is an a fortiori argument—"how much more." If a wicked, uncaring, self-interested human will finally yield to persistence, how much more will the just, holy, and loving God act on behalf of those He loves?
The judge is evil; God is perfectly good.
The judge doesn't care for the widow; God calls us His "chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night" (v. 7).
The judge reluctantly acts late; God promises to "see that they get justice, and quickly" (v. 8).
Our persistence in prayer does not change God's mind regarding His perfect will; it proves our faith in His promises. When we pray without giving up, we demonstrate we truly believe in His sovereign power and His Fatherly care, regardless of the timeline. This leads to Jesus' critical question: "...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (v. 8). Persistent prayer is the practical evidence of the unwavering faith Christ is seeking.
2. The Nature of Persistence: Wrestling for the Blessing (Genesis 32:22-32)
Persistence in prayer is not passive waiting; it is an active, determined wrestling. To understand the tenacity Jesus calls for, we look back at the patriarch Jacob.
A. The Night of Struggle at Peniel
Jacob is facing an existential crisis. He is about to confront his brother Esau, whom he wronged years ago. He is utterly alone and terrified when a figure, identified as a "man" but clearly divine, begins to wrestle him. "So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak" (Gen. 32:24). This is a spiritual battle fought on physical grounds.
When the divine antagonist wants to end the fight, Jacob refuses to concede. He clings to the one thing he knows he needs: “‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’” (Gen. 32:26).
Jacob's tenacious grip is the Old Testament picture of the widow's relentless plea. He clings stubbornly to the source of his need, knowing his survival, identity, and future depend entirely on God's blessing.
B. The Transformation: Israel
Jacob walks away with two things that define persistent faith:
A new name: Israel (Gen. 32:28): "‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’" Persistence changed his identity from Jacob (the deceiver) to Israel (the one who struggles with God).
A wound (Gen. 32:31): He leaves limping because his hip was wrenched.
The limp serves as a permanent reminder: True faith and persistent struggle often leave us marked, humbled, or changed, but the blessing is secured. The wound prevents Jacob from ever relying on his own strength or cunning again. It forces him into unwavering dependence on God.
If you are wrestling with a seemingly endless challenge—a spiritual plateau, a difficult calling—know that your struggle is what God uses to transform your name and secure your blessing. He is teaching you to trust Him when your own strength fails.
3. The Fuel for Persistence: The Unwavering Word (2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5)
How do we find the spiritual stamina to persist like the widow, or the physical strength to wrestle like Jacob? The answer lies in our final passage, Paul’s instruction to Timothy.
A. Grounded in Scripture
Paul reminds Timothy that persistent faith is not fueled by fleeting feelings or circumstance, but by the unchanging Word of God.
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of... and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:14-15).
Our persistence is sustained because we know who God is and what He has promised. This unwavering assurance comes from the authority of Scripture: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16).
When our heart is tempted to "give up" (Luke 18:1), the Word rebukes and corrects our faulty theology about God's timing or intentions. It reminds us of His absolute faithfulness, empowering us to keep clinging.
B. The Call to Endure
Paul commands Timothy to live out this faith in the face of suffering and theological drifting. He gives a solemn charge: "Preach the Word... be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction... endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry" (2 Tim. 4:2, 5).
Persistence is Endurance. The widow's justice was delayed. Jacob's wrestling lasted all night. Timothy’s ministry would be hard because people would eventually "turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (2 Tim. 4:4).
The call to "endure hardship" and "discharge all the duties of your ministry" is a call to finish the race Christ set before us. It means, no matter the opposition, no matter the weariness, we must keep serving and we must keep praying.
Conclusion
Friends, the persistent widow reminds us that our requests are heard. Jacob at Peniel reminds us that God often uses our greatest struggles to transform our identity and secure our blessings. And 2 Timothy reminds us that our strength to persist comes only from the unwavering, God-breathed truth of Scripture.
The central question of the Gospel remains: “...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
He is not looking for a flimsy faith that quits after the first trial. He is looking for a tenacious, persistent faith—a faith that knows its God is sovereign, righteous, and good, and therefore clings to Him through the long night of waiting.
If you are struggling today, if you are weary in prayer, remember your inheritance as a child of God. Take heart. Be persistent. The righteous Judge of all the earth is already on your side, and He promises to give you justice, and quickly.
Let us commit to pray always and not give up. Amen.
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