We cannot succeed by working alone.

by Dr. David R. Downey

While we serve God, our challenges are real. Our obstacles are great. Our success is assured!

But we are going to need some help. We cannot do this alone. If God is, in fact, going to be glorified by what we do in service to Him, wouldn’t it make sense that He must be involved in our efforts?

This reminds me of a little boy who was trying to lift a large rock unsuccessfully. His father stood nearby and asked, “Are you using all the strength you have?”

The frustrated boy replied, “Yes!”

His dad said, “No, you are not. You haven’t asked me to help you.” 

How often do we find ourselves working in God’s field without attention to His supernatural power? No wonder we get discouraged!

Jesus tells a famous parable in Luke 18 about a widow and a judge to show “that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” when asking for His help.

Working without assistance (vv. 2, 3)

Here you have two conditions for failure when trying to accomplish things for God.

The “helper.” Jesus says a widow was seeking justice from her adversary. The only help she could appeal to was a judge. You know how powerful judges are today; they were even more so then. They perch high on their benches, and, likely as not, they have beetling brows and imposing eyes. And they have that little hammer. Just like in the TV shows, if you get too feisty, they can whack it on the stand and shock you into submission.

This judge, Jesus carefully noted, did not fear God or respect anyone. He was Al Capone in a black robe. He defied the judgment of God and rejected the opinion of others. That would make him unassailable. Immovable.

This judge represented the widow’s only hope for assistance.

That is the state of this adversary: He simply did not care. And the widow in such a state had needed a friend in this judge. As we like to say, “With friends like this, who needs enemies?”

The position of the supplicant. The second condition for failure was the widow’s position in society. There was no more powerless person in the first century ad than the widow — unless it was the orphan. That is why Scripture talks about them both so much in the same breath using the word oppression. Widows and orphans were newly shorn sheep in need of a shepherd.

Here was a woman with no man to stand with her. Can you imagine her position before a judge who had no concern for God or anyone else? Others would likely warn her that her situation was hopeless.

But the widow responded with courage and persistence. She reminds me of a crab I literally ran into at the beach the other day. I was shuffling in the surf when this little bitty crab grabbed my toe in its pincher. I wondered, Now that it has me, what does it think it is going to do with me?

In the parable, the widow was like that crab: She held on and would not let go.

In our work for the kingdom, there is a call for courage and tenacity — an opportunity to face our difficulties and show the Lord’s strength. The world would have us defeated, but God would have us win.

This widow had been repeatedly thrown out of the judge’s presence. Just like her, we should never be people who give up in our service to others. We need to be mild, certainly, but maybe a little bit wild at times.

Necessity of prayer (vv. 4-7)

We notice in verse 4 that the judge knew he was a jerk. Some people, while knowing they are wrong and unfair, will still not change in the least. That is not an option for those of us in the church. When we know what to do and do not do it, we are subjected to greater judgment.

Respect the power of prayer. This judge did not regard people or God, so he and the widow had no common ground. He had authority; she had no pull. He had the options; she had none. Remember this next time you think the challenges you face in ministry are particularly difficult. They cannot be weighed against you much worse than they were against this widow. In essence, Jesus is saying, “If this unjust judge, who has no reason to change, eventually gives the widow what she asks for, how much more will God answer since He cares immensely?”

One of the most unused weapons of our arsenal is prayer. According to Ephesians 6:18, each piece of our spiritual armor is to be put on with prayer. We are to pray always.

God has taught me this lesson. Philippians 4 says we are to be anxious for nothing but to pray about everything. For example, let’s say I am worried about an upcoming meeting. My inward discussion goes like this: Well, let me see. If I say this, what if they say this . . . I hope I remember to touch on . . . I need not appear uninformed . . . etc., etc.

In such times, God has taught me not to be anxious but to pray. When I am dreading a coming meeting or rehashing a past meeting, then I know God is trying to get my attention. I make the necessary plans, I do my due diligence, but instead of ruminating, I pray. Do you know nine times out of ten, exactly what I ask in prayer is what I get?

Likely you remember the story when Elisha was in Dothan and was unexpectedly surrounded by the enemy (2 Kings 6:11-23). Ben-hadad besieged the city by night. When the servant of the prophet saw the army round about the city the following morning, he exclaimed, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

Elisha answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

I love that! Ben-hadad had a huge army, and they were there to get Elisha. Nevertheless, there were more with Elisha than with the army camped outside.

Likewise, there are more with us than are with the adversaries we face. We have the host of heaven with us when we serve!

Persist in prayer. Luke 18:5 tells us the judge was aware that this woman would not quit. Something in her eye told him that if he kept throwing her out, she would keep coming back. Some have titled this parable “The Importunate Widow,” as she asked insistently and repeatedly.

We need to be persistent with God, but impertinence will not work. That’s a different word. We always approach God with reverence.

In his autobiography, William Allen White related the story of a boyhood playmate, Temple Friend, who was kidnapped by the Indians when he was quite young. Providentially, Temple’s grandfather was a missionary to the Indians. He continued believing his grandson was alive. When visiting an Indian village, he would line up the boys who would be about the age of his missing grandson, and quietly whisper, “Temple, Temple” in the ear of each boy.

He did this day in and day out. On one occasion, he found about twelve boys the age of his grandson — all eight to ten years old — and he started the same procedure. At the middle of the line a little boy’s face lit up, and he responded, “Me Temple!”

We applaud the boy’s being found, especially because his grandfather’s persistence was rewarded. That gives us a look at God’s heart: He applauds persistence in the same way. He loves to reward us because we kept at it in prayer. Remember Luke 18:1? Jesus taught this parable so that we might pray rather than lose heart.

Will God find faith? (v. 8)

This question from Jesus supposes several things:

• “On earth” is the only time for faith. We will not need faith in the coming kingdom, and it will be absent in the second death. We need faith now.

• The Lord looks for faith on earth because faith is pleasing to Him.

• The Lord will also find faith. There are no insignificant believers when they believe.

• It is sad but assumed that when Jesus comes, He will be disappointed that many of His children do not have faith. Their salvation is secure, but they are not trusting while praying.

What will Christ see in us when He returns? People who are trying to move our “rocks” by ourselves, or people who are persistently seeking God’s help in our labors? Not losing heart in our prayers is more important than ever to accomplish what God has called us to do.