The Parable of the Persistent Widow—What it Means for Your Prayer Life

When we’ve been praying for a long time for something to happen, or for a situation to resolve… the longer we have to wait, the less hopeful we start to feel.

We might find ourselves asking, Why won’t God answer me? Why is He taking so long?

In Luke’s Gospel account, Jesus addresses this common struggle with an unusual story—The Parable of the Persistent Widow. Luke even gives us a preface, that it’s “a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up.” (Luke 18:1, CSB).

So let’s take a closer look:

• What happens in the parable
• Meaning and context
• Three key takeaways
• How we can make prayer a priority

First, let’s run through the events of the parable.

What happens in The Parable of the Persistent Widow?

Photo by Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz

The Parable of the Persistent Widow (or The Parable of the Unjust Judge) is only found in Luke 18:1-8. Jesus opens the parable by describing the story’s antagonist—an unjust judge.

Jesus says this judge “did not fear God nor regard man” (18:2, NKJV). We get the feeling that this person was only doing the bare minimum, making no extra effort to help anyone. He didn’t actually care about the people he served.

Then comes the other character in the story—a widow who’s in desperate need of the judge’s help.

But this unrighteous judge doesn’t want to help her. The widow comes to him time and time again, asking him for “justice” against her adversary. And each time, he refuses.

Despite the judge’s dismissal of her situation, the widow persists. With every “no” she receives, she returns to ask again.

Eventually, the judge is so worn out that he agrees to grant her request.

Then Jesus wraps up the parable:

“…Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay helping them? I tell you that He will swiftly grant them justice…” (Luke 18:6-8, CSB).

Jesus assures His audience that if persistence can work even with a selfish, apathetic judge, then how much more effective will our continual prayers be with a Heavenly Father who loves us?

Then, He closes the story by asking them if they will maintain this faithful attitude of persistent prayer until the Second Coming.

So the Parable of the Persistent Widow encourages us to keep coming to God even when it seems like nothing is changing.

Like the widow, when it comes to deliverance from our adversary, Satan, we’re totally reliant on God, a righteous, perfect judge.¹

But what else can the context of this parable tell us?

Meaning and context

The exact time and location of this parable was not recorded, but Bible scholars believe it was given in March of AD 31 in Perea, not long after the resurrection of Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus. It was probably given at the same time as Luke 17:2-27, where Jesus tells the Pharisees and the disciples about the signs of the last days.²

These two messages seem to be connected. At the end of the Parable of the Widow, Jesus tells listeners to keep their faith until He returns at the Second Coming:

“…When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth” (Luke 18:8, CSB)?

Persistent, continual prayer is how we can maintain our faith.

In Luke 17, Jesus warns His followers about the kinds of things one can expect to see or experience in the days preceding His return. But with the story of the widow, He closes it with a reassuring truth—that God will be with us even if it doesn’t feel like it. What matters is that we don’t stop praying.

Jesus knew how important this lesson would be—both for His disciples and for believers in the end times:

• Believers at that time will face challenges regarding their loyalty to either God or the world. They will need to depend on God and keep their prayer life constantly active to keep their faith strong amid confusing or tough times.³

  And it makes sense. Prayer is how we commune with God, and maintaining a relationship with Him is the foundation of our faith. So this is a call to guard against complacency. To resist the temptation to stop praying regularly just because things are difficult.

• The disciples needed persistent prayer for similar reasons. In just a couple days, Jesus, their Messiah, would be crucified. Jesus knew this chain of events would shake them, so He encouraged them to use the best tool at their disposal—prayer—to help them overcome the tests they were about to face (Matthew 26:40-46).

But the disciples weren’t the only ones present. It’s likely the Pharisees in Luke 17 had stayed to listen to this parable,⁴ and possibly the following Parable of the Pharisee and The Parable of the Tax Collector in verses 9-14 as well.

In that parable, Jesus explains how God does not look at someone’s outward prestige or social status, but at the heart and sincerity of a person (Luke 18:9-17; Mark 12:38-40; see also Proverbs 15:25).

And who fits these qualities more than the widow in our parable? Her many requests aren’t for show—they’re a desperate cry for help.

To better understand her plight, it helps to know what life was like for widows in those days.

Of course, being a widow is hard no matter what era you live in. But widows in the Bible had to cope with living in a patriarchal society where women had very few rights.

Society restricted their ability to make money or own land. In many cases, women were totally dependent on their husbands or sons to provide for them.⁵ So without husbands or close relatives to care for them, their survival depended on the charity of their neighbors (Deuteronomy 24:19-21).

But God wasn’t blind to the needs of widows.

In fact, He positioned Himself as their defender and sustainer (Psalm 68:5; Jeremiah 49:11; Deuteronomy 10:18). He urged His people to show them the same protection and kindness (Exodus 22:22; Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 22:3).

But in this parable, we see the needs of the widow being ignored by the corrupt judge.

Though the parable doesn’t explain what grievance the widow holds against her adversary, some Bible scholars offer likely contex:

“It would seem that the widow’s husband had left her property, perhaps mortgaged to others, which they refused to return at the stipulated time according to the provisions of the law (see on Lev. 25:23-25). Evidently, having no one to champion her rights, the widow was wholly dependent on the judge’s sense of justice and mercy—but he was neither just nor merciful.”⁶

It’d make sense why she would seek justice if it involved her adversary refusing to give up their claim on her late husband’s land. Without a provider, she needed every asset she could get.

She had no advantage to help her sway the judge’s mind. She had nothing but her persistence and sincerity.

Jesus uses this parable to demonstrate that we, and the disciples, are just like the widow in this story. We are weak to sin and prey to the hardships of life. We’re dependent on God to deliver us from our adversary, the devil, who is out to tempt us, deceive us, and ruin us.

All we can do is pray for Him to step in.

Now this doesn’t mean that God will give us whatever we want, if we ask for it over and over.

In the parable, Jesus is talking about deliverance from, and justice against, our adversary—Satan. Not the granting of personal requests.

We have to look at the bigger picture here. Since the whole world is involved in the Great Controversy between Jesus Christ and Satan… sometimes it can feel like our own personal justice isn’t being dealt with swiftly enough. But since we’re part of something that’s bigger than our own lives, God’s deliverance and justice can have a different timetable. There’s more going on than what we’re able to see.⁷

But that’s also precisely why Jesus asks us to “pray always and not give up” (Luke 18:1, CSB). Because prayer is how we stay connected to the only One who can bring deliverance and justice to this broken world. He’s saying, “Stick with Me. I’ve got you, I promise.”

Three key takeaways

Here are the key insights we can draw from the Parable of the Persistent Widow.

• Pray without ceasing
• Prayer develops faith
• God cares about our needs—and our salvation is safe

#1 Pray without ceasing—we’re never too much trouble for God

Photo by Ramy Mamdouh on Unsplash

Again, the type of prayer we’re talking about isn’t to pester God until He gives in.
Persistent, unceasing prayer is much more enriching and all-encompassing. The New Testament connects constant prayer with the idea of not giving up faith.

“Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, CSB).

Even when it seems like our prayers aren’t being answered, Jesus tells us to keep making the choice to trust in Him and depend on Him to meet our needs, just like the widow did in the story.

Just think about it. Why do we come to God with our challenges in the first place? It’s because some part of us has faith that God can help us.

And what might make us stop praying? Most likely, it’d be because we’ve given up hope.

It can be all too easy to lose heart when we can’t see how God is leading us or providing for us. And it can be hard to persist in prayer when it feels like we’re just talking about the same things over and over.

What’s more, it can be very tempting to take matters into your own hands. (And we aren’t alone here. Several people in the Bible have grappled with this same issue [Genesis 16-17; 1 Samuel 13].)

But Jesus uses this parable to remind us that we don’t have to keep struggling on our own. He invites us to come to Him and hand over our stressors. If we need something, all we have to do is ask Him (1 John 5:14-15).

We’re never too much trouble for God, and our requests are never impossible for Him.

What makes this even more interesting is that this wasn’t a common idea at the time Jesus preached this message.

“The Jews of Christ’s time taught the desirability of praying thrice daily (see on Dan. 6:10). Two of these times were the regular morning and evening hours of prayer, when the morning and evening sacrifices were offered for all Israel…(see on Luke 1:9, 10). It is said that some rabbis went so far as to teach that a person should avoid praying at other than the stated times for prayer lest he disturb God and weary Him, as the importunate widow in this parable brought weariness to the unjust judge.”⁸

So Jesus wasn’t just telling people that they should pray. He was assuring them that it was okay to keep praying!

We can pray all we want! Ceaselessly! And we can find reassurance in the fact that He desires to hear from us.

We can embrace an attitude of prayer no matter where we are—even if we have no idea what to say. It’s just about opening ourselves up to God and directing our thoughts toward Him. From there, the Holy Spirit can take over to share what’s on our hearts:

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26, NKJV).

Prayer is our way of inviting God in, giving Him permission to act in our lives.

He wanted the disciples to know that God is a friend they can always turn to. And He wants us to be aware of that today, too.

#2 Prayer develops faith

The more we come to know Him, the more trust and faith we have in Him. We get in the habit of coming to Him with our problems and putting our faith in Him instead of relying on ourselves. And the act of putting our faith in Him through prayer only helps our faith grow more.

It’s a lot like our relationships with our friends.

Even if we’re hesitant to open up at first, the closer we get, the more vulnerable we feel like we can be. And being more vulnerable, in turn, only deepens the relationship.

So prayer isn’t just an act of faith. It also helps develop it.

Each time we surrender and invite God to help us, we’re putting our faith in Him and strengthening it.

This is why giving up on prayer is the last thing we want to do if our faith is wavering. It disconnects us from God. And without God, we can only turn to ourselves for help. And when we choose to rely on ourselves, we quickly realize we’re in over our heads.

Even when things aren’t going our way, Jesus encourages us not to grow weary of praying because prayer is the only way forward in our relationship with Him—which is what saves us.

And ultimately, though selfishness, suffering, greed, and pride seem to rule the world, we can trust that God will fulfill His promise to end these things once and for all, delivering justice to those who have been oppressed by this sinful world (Revelation 21:4).

How to make prayer a priority in our lives

Today, the message of the Parable of the Persistent Widow is the same as it was then: It’s okay to keep praying! It’s welcomed!

But sometimes prayer can be difficult to do or understand when we’re just starting out, or when we’re struggling with tough situations.

So here are some small ideas that can help boost your prayer life:

• Get a prayer partner: You and your partner can encourage each other to pray, keep each other accountable, and also pray for each other. This is especially helpful if developing a routine for prayer has been difficult.
• Look up encouraging Bible verses about prayer: The Bible has all sorts of uplifting messages about prayer that can remind you of the power of prayer and God’s love. Do a keyword search in a Bible app or website—you’ll find days’ worth of passages to think over.
• Keep a prayer journal: Write down your prayers to keep your thoughts focused, and so you can look back and see how God has been working in your life.
• Start a prayer devotional: Prayer devotionals can help you form a routine and give you a new perspective on prayer. You can find books, email series, podcasts, etc., that can help guide your devotional time.
• Read about Bible heroes who waited for God to answer their prayers: Many people in the Bible also grappled with waiting for God to answer their prayers (ex: Abraham, Job, Hannah). Reading about their experience and seeing how God was faithful to them can encourage you in your own situations.

Building confidence in prayer is the key to the Christian life. It helps us maintain faith even in trying circumstances.

That doesn’t mean we don’t ever struggle with doubt. It just means that our doubts don’t overpower our hope in Jesus.

That’s the kind of faith Jesus wanted for His disciples, and it’s the kind of faith He invites us into today.

Find more advice from Scripture about how we can strengthen our prayer life:

Related Articles

1. Nichol, Francis D., Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary And Bible Students’ Source Book, Vol. 5 , 1978, p. 844. [↵]
2. Ibid, p.199-200; 843. [↵]
3. Ibid, p. 843-845.[↵]
4. Ibid, p. 843. [↵]
5. Branch, Robin Gallaher, Ph.D, “Widows in the Bible,” Biblical Archaeology Society. [↵]
6. Nichol, p. 844. [↵]
7. Ibid, p. 845. [↵]
8. Ibid., p. 844. [↵]

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