The Parable of the Persistent Widow, Luke 18:1-8
And He spake a parable unto them to this end,
that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God,
neither regarded man:
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying,
Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself,
Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her,
lest by her continual coming she weary me.
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
And shall not God avenge His own elect,
which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?
I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
What did the unjust judge say again?
Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her,
lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Jesus is saying that to us, keep asking, keep praying.
That widow wanted to be avenged of her adversary.
It could be anything that we are believing God for.
If we are praying His perfect will,
we can be sure that we will receive the answer to prayer as He has promised us.
And Jesus asked, When the Son of man returns, will He find faith on the Earth?
Just like when Peter was walking on the water.
Jesus told him to come and meet Him there.
Peter was doing fine at first,
then he got distracted by the wind and the waves and started to sink.
Jesus held out His hand to help Peter so he wouldn’t sink.
Then, Jesus reminded him to have faith and not doubt
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink,
he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him,
and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Matthew 14:30-31
Faith is a gift.
God gives each of us a measure of faith.
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you,
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think;
but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Romans 1:23
Just like anything God gives us, He expects us to do something with faith.
When we do, He will enlarge it.
We can see that from the Bible in various places, those who acted in faith,
God gave them greater faith.
If we act in pride, demanding faith, that won’t work.
God wants us to be courageous yet with humility toward Him,
not separate from Him.
How do we keep our faith strong and help our faith to grow?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
If we do not feed our faith. If we do not do our part, we may sink.
God tells us what to do to keep our faith strong many times in many ways.
Throughout the Bible the characters exercised their faith.
Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11
Moses disappointed God when he struck the rock twice
when instead, God told him to speak to the rock.
We have to be careful not to ever think we own faith separate from Jesus.
Our faith is always in Christ,
not ours to use how we want, but to synchronize with Jesus and His Holy Spirit.