St. Augustine was a "Son of Tears." When this brilliant profligate wandered the world, his mother, St. Monica prayed for him.
I, too, was a "son of tears," with a mother who knelt by her bed and prayed for me with tears.
Luke 18:1-7 describes a poor widow who constantly seeks help from an unjust judge, who finally gives her what she asks for because she never quits hounding him.
Why does Jesus tell us to pray that way? It isn't because God is unjust or doesn't love us, but we need to remember that God can never violate his own character.
Murder, stealing, lying and other things are wrong for only one reason: They are contrary to God's own character.
Like the widow, we have an adversary (1 Peter 5:8) who accuses us (Zechariah 3:1-2), so we must confess our sins: "If I regard iniquity in my life, the Lord will not hear me," But God does hear us (Psalm 66:18-19).
When we come to God in prayer, we must believe that "he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) Without faith and without persistence in "hounding" heaven, we will not see our prayers answered.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is our example as Hebrews 5:7-8 make clear. Though he is and always has been fully God, yet he became a true human being. He had a human body (John 1:14). He had a human soul (Mark 14:34). He had a human spirit (John 11:33). He had a human mind (Mark 13:32). He was tempted in all the ways you and I are tempted, but he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus matured through suffering, and so do we. |
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