passionate, persistent prayer

I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Luke 18:8

Jesus told a story about a very persistent widow who kept bringing her pleas for justice to a self-centered judge. Although the judge had no truly righteous character, yet he worked to resolve justice for the widow just to rid himself of the constant pleas she made before him. His motives were still self-centered, but the outcome was justice, more because of the widow's persistence than for any other reason.

The point of the parable is that persistence in our requests before God is important. It is a type of faith. Jesus goes on to say that if such persistence gains justice in a corrupt system, how much more should we believe and be convinced in confidence that a perfectly holy God will rightly grant our requests when we ask of Him by faith? God will "give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night." God will not "delay long over them." God loves His people and those whose faith leads them to passionate, persistent prayer will find His answers more than available. He will abundantly answer.

There is however a haunting commentary from Jesus that echoes in my heart two thousand years distant from His original words. "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" And that questions presses in on me uncomfortably. In a daring age of human technology connecting us instantaneously to a vast reservoir of human sourced information, we may be tempted to take our problems first to Google, or to simply press a button and ask Siri. But Christians trust Jesus. He has our eternal souls in His care... it makes sense that faith leads us to ask of Him for justice and grace in our daily lives as well. But will He find that faith in us?