12th April 2026 - Dan White

Good morning everyone. It's been a while since

I've been up here. I'm hoping you'll all be better

behaved than the people I'm normally in front

of each week. Don't count on it. Thanks Karen.

On the day of Edith's birth, our eldest and firstborn,

I enjoyed a peaceful sleep in until about 7 .30am.

Now usually I was the first to awake so when

I woke and felt that Lucy wasn't there, I went

looking for her. She'd been awake since 2 a .m.

with contractions. Now feeling rather guilty,

I snapped into action. I massaged her lower back,

I retrieved food and water, offered heat packs

and added the last -minute items to our hospital

bag. There was excitement, nerves and... Great

anticipation for this day. Today was the day

we would get to meet our little girl. But a few

hours pass and things weren't progressing as

fast as I thought they might. So my mind began

to wander. And I remembered that we took our

dinner to the beach the night before and I parked

the car under a tree. And when we came back from

dinner, the car was covered in bird poo. So I

took the opportunity to go and wash the car Yeah,

I did Now when I returned I was straight back

into the back rubbing and the heat packs And

phoning the hospital just to let them know that

we weren't far away But the hospital staff said

it wasn't quite time and they asked us to wait

Now I figured given that it wasn't time to head

in yet. Well, we might as well just watch a little

bit of television After all, if we're going to

sit here, we may as well be entertained, right?

By 1pm, contractions were consistent and quick,

so we got in the car and we headed in. Now this

was go time, and I returned to peak levels of

alertness. I packed the car, messaged the mothers,

drove in super carefully, dropped Lucy off, parked

the car, escorted Lucy to the ward and into our

room. I was right back in there alongside my

wife helping to see this through to the end.

I helped Lucy by holding her hair, applying the

gas mask and offering reassurance. Hours of this

passed by, and it's about 6pm now. My stomach

makes itself known to me and reminds me that

it's dinner time. Lucy can't move because of

the epidural, so I head across the road and go

to get some food. After all, a man has to eat,

right? I browse the restaurants, sit down, order

and eat, and when I'm finished, I return to the

hospital. Things still don't seem to have progressed,

so I wander the room, fiddling with things, looking

out the window, and eventually I lay down on

the couch and drift off to sleep. A couple of

hours later, I'm woken when the nurse exclaims,

ooh, I see a head. Here she comes. I leapt out

of bed and sprung back into action. I was bedside,

attentive and fully alert and it wasn't much

longer until our beautiful Edith was born at

about 10pm. Well, waiting and delays can draw

out all sorts of responses in us. They can make

us lose interest, look for alternatives, become

frustrated or even grow cold and indifferent.

Now I've obviously told that story in a particular

way for emphasis, but the reality is here I was

in one of the most joyful moments of my life

and I still couldn't sustain my attention for

even 15 hours. I drifted, I got distracted, my

interest faded, and that's what waiting does

to us. If something doesn't keep us going, we

begin to lose heart, don't we? And in many ways,

the Christian life is a life of waiting. We are

waiting for Jesus to return and make all things

right, but that waiting can feel long, almost

2 ,000 years long. And it can produce the same

responses in us. We lose heart, we grow indifferent,

we become distracted, or we begin to wonder,

is he really coming back? And the Bible itself

acknowledges this struggle. In 2 Peter 3 verse

2 Peter 3:4

4, the people scoff, where is this coming? He

promised. Ever since our ancestors died, everything

goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.

And in Matthew 24 12, Jesus warns that the love

of most will grow cold. And maybe you felt that.

Because while we wait, life keeps happening.

Suffering, injustice. temptation, grief, and

we seek answers to these things but sometimes

they don't seem to come and so slowly and quietly

our faith erodes. We might not say it out loud

but we begin to wonder why keep praying? Why

keep going? And this is the struggle which Jesus

addresses in today's passage. Very graciously

Jesus tells this encouraging story to his disciples

to remind them and us to keep going because Jesus

will sort everything out. And we're going to

explore this big idea today in two points. Be

persistent in prayer and be confident in God's

character. But before I go any further, let's

just pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that we might

find these words of yours a great encouragement

in our walk with you. Lord, may they meet us

where we're at and may they move us to treasure

you and to persist in faithfulness to you. Amen.

The parable of the persistent widow shows us

a woman who has no power, no status and no protection.

Having lost her husband, she is socially and

economically vulnerable with no one to advocate

for her. Yet she has one thing, persistence.

She returns again and again to the judge refusing

to give up and her persistence reveals her faith.

She keeps coming back because she believes justice

will be done. Jesus draws our attention to this

widow. Her example shows us how we are to approach

God with relentless, dependent prayer. Like her,

we are called to always pray and not give up.

Prayer is a declaration of our dependence on

God. It's an acknowledgement that we cannot ultimately

provide for or sustain ourselves. Culturally,

we don't like the terms dependence and vulnerability.

We prize independence and self -sufficiency.

We prefer not to be found in need of others.

Yet, while we like to think of ourselves as self

-sufficient, the reality is life brings our way

many difficult things outside of our control.

Suffering, broken relationships, chronic illnesses,

grief, persecution, unrelenting sin. And of course,

there is one inescapable event common to all

of us. Death. So in reality, we really are no

different from the widow in need of help. Now

when the widow faced rejection and the cold uncaring

silence of the unjust judge, what did she do?

She didn't let rejection drive her away. She

didn't stop believing he could help. She didn't

think asking was futile. She simply kept going.

She returned again and again believing that justice

could be done. And Jesus is calling us to do

the same. A true faith is tested and revealed

in our persistence, continually returning to

Him, crying out day and night, trusting that

He hears and will respond, whether in this life

or the next. In that persistence, our faith is

deepened and proven. In Tim Keller's book on

prayer, He wrote about a time in his family's

life when they realised the importance of prayer.

He and his wife described it like this. He said,

imagine you were diagnosed with such a lethal

condition that the doctor told you that you would

die within hours unless you took a particular

medicine, a pill every night before going to

sleep. Imagine that you were told that you could

never miss it or you would die. Would you forget?

Would you not get around to it some nights? No,

it would be so crucial that you wouldn't forget.

You would never miss. Well, he says, if we don't

pray to God, we're not going to make it because

of all we're facing. I'm certainly not, he says.

We have to pray and can't let it just slip our

minds. If we truly understand our need, we would

pray. like our lives depended on it, because

they do. Prayer is the pill that can cure us

from giving up in the face of a lifetime of troubles.

And prayer is the pill that can cure us from

giving up and facing an eternity of troubles

without God. We need to adopt the widow's posture

of helpless, dependent prayer and persistently

pray so that we can keep going. But we would

be crazy to persistently pray if we weren't confident

in who we were praying to. Which brings me to

our second point. Be confident in God's character.

In the story, the unjust judge relents and delivers

justice, but not because he becomes righteous

or develops compassion for the widow. No, he

relents because he's worn down and no longer

wants to be bothered. In this parable, Jesus

is not saying that God is like this, bother him

enough and we can bend him to our will like a

child who nags their parent. Rather, Jesus is

drawing a sharp contrast. He's saying, if even

a corrupt, uncaring judge eventually brings justice,

how much more will a loving and righteous God

bring justice for his chosen ones? You see, it's

God's character. that gives us the assurance

to keep coming to him in prayer. By contrasting

the unjust judge, Jesus highlights what God is

like. Unlike the unjust judge, God has a personal

relationship with his elect. We are not strangers

to him, nor are our troubles hidden from him.

Unlike the unjust judge, God is honorable, fair

and righteous. Unlike the unjust judge, God wants

what is good and right for his people. Unlike

the unjust judge, God is not bothered by our

persistence. He invites us to come boldly and

delights in our dependence on him. And unlike

the unjust judge, God is loving, generous and

compassionate. And we see these attributes not

just in this passage but revealed all through

scripture. When we consider the sum total of

God's character from the Bible, we can, as difficult

as it might be, start to understand that God's

delays in answering our prayers are not His absence.

His silence is not indifference, and His timing

is not neglect. Here are a few examples from

Scripture. Romans 8 -28 tells us that God works

for the good of those who love Him. Isaiah 55,

8 -9 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so

are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts

than your thoughts. And Proverbs 3, 5 and 6 remind

us to trust in the Lord with all your heart and

lean not on your own understanding. In all your

ways submit to him and he will make your paths

straight. In the midst of our suffering it can

be difficult to comprehend how God wouldn't give

us what we want. But we can find assurance in

His character. He is the all -knowing, very wise

God. We can trust His plans and trust that it's

good for us because His character shows us this

time and time again. Parents will know this struggle.

Sometimes my children ask for something and it's

not necessarily bad. But I have to say no. Recently

they asked to visit our elderly neighbour and

spend some time with her. And I said no. To them

it can seem very harsh and unnecessary. They

would even try to make out to you that it's tyrannical.

But in my head... I'm thinking it's 4 .30 now,

if you go over, she's going to give you treats

galore, ruining your appetite for dinner. Extracting

you from the house will be a half hour operation

as you negotiate more time. We won't get back

home until 5 .30, then we've got to clean up

the toys, have a bath, I won't have put the dinner

on, that'll push back dinner, that'll push back

teeth, stories, Bible, prayer, and bedtime, and

the early night I know you need will be lost.

So no, you're not going. In this situation, I

know the best. But it would be futile to try

to explain that to them. In this situation, my

wisdom and my knowledge of what lay ahead exceeds

theirs. And likewise, what feels like delay or

denial to us is often his good and careful provision.

But it's not just about what God is like. Our

assurance comes from what he's done and what

he will do. Verses seven to eight of the parables

say, And will not God bring about justice for

His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night?

Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He

will see that they get justice and quickly. God

has already secured justice for us. He has taken

up our cause and acted decisively to vindicate

us. Like the widow, we were helpless and without

hope. yet in His mercy God intervened in the

most extraordinary way by sending His perfect

Son to the cross so that we might be justified.

In this sense justice has already been carried

out. Out of great compassion for us, God has

addressed our greatest need, eternity. The sufferings

of this world are real and painful, but they're

not final for His chosen ones. They will pass.

Eternity will not. God has made our deliverance

certain through his son Jesus, the very one telling

this parable. And so we can add to the list,

unlike the unjust judge, God has delivered justice

at great personal cost and out of deep love for

us. If this is the God we pray to, then we can

be sure he is for us. You see, God's character,

who He is, what He's done, and what He will do,

reveal to us His faithfulness and trustworthiness.

When we offer requests to a man such as the unjust

judge, we can expect to be left bitter, resentful

and disinclined to keep going back to Him. But

when we pray to God, we anchor ourselves to His

good character and His faithful promises. It

guards our heart from contempt. bitterness, frustration,

and a willingness to give up. Our confidence

in him gives us hope, and our hope keeps us going.

When I'm out at the playground with my girls,

it's interesting that most of my illustration's

about a father -child relationship, isn't it?

When I'm out at the playground with my girls,

I often see them pause in their play, and they

look for me. They briefly seek me out, lock their

eyes onto me, and then simply return to their

business of play. It's like a check. Are you

still there, Dad? Have you still got me, Dad?

Are you still protecting me and looking out for

me? It's the little boost of confidence they

need to keep going. And in a way, our prayers

to the Father are like that. His character provides

assurance like the assurance a parent provides

for their child. Therefore, our persistence in

prayer even in the face of delay, is founded

on our assurance of God's character and his care

for his chosen people. We can be confident God

will deliver because of who he is. If the unjust

judge gives justice, how much more would a loving

father? Before we move on to the application

of today's passage, I want to just briefly mention

the word quickly, which is in verse 8. I have

to apologize to you and say I can't explain.

The quickly part. Two thousand years doesn't

seem quick and neither are our answers to prayer

always quick. So I haven't been able to logically

make sense of why Jesus uses that word. In all

the commentaries I've read they reference 2 Peter

3 8. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years

and a thousand years alike a day. Perhaps it

is as simple as that. Or perhaps it's also worth

remembering that this is a parable. a story Jesus

is telling to make a point. And the point is

that God is better than the unjust judge, even

in his speed. So, in light of this passage, what

do we do? Well, unlike other parables, the writer

Luke, before Jesus begins telling this story,

makes clear what we are to do. Always pray and

don't give up. But here's a few things that I

got to thinking about in the application of this

passage. My first point is quite simply pray.

If you've never prayed, pray. If you've stopped

praying, come back and start praying. If you

don't feel like praying, just pray and tell God

that you don't feel like praying. No perfect

words are required in your prayers. Just get

started and keep going. Secondly, cry out day

and night. We often feel like prayer needs to

be refined or controlled and sophisticated in

some way. I like this verse because I think it

calls us to be honest and real in our prayers.

And scripture is full of raw prayers. It's full

of lament. There's confusion. There are prayers

that challenge God. There are prayers for people

calling for punishment for wicked people. There

are prayers where people wrestle with God. There's

no point putting on a show in your private, personal

prayers to God. Be honest with him and cry out

day and night. And that might mean telling him

that you're tired. It might mean telling him

that you don't feel like praying. And it might

even mean telling him that you're struggling

to trust him. My third point is trust God's character,

not your circumstances. Don't pray in some vain

hope to bend God to your will, but remember to

pray to a loving God who wants to hear your prayers,

who wants to give you justice and has given you

justice. If it seems like God is not answering

you, remember God's wisdom far exceeds ours and

trust in his good character. And lastly, use

the Lord's Prayer as a template. Brendan has

just finished an excellent sermon series on the

Lord's Prayer. And it's a great tool for how

to pray. It reminds us that prayer is not a shopping

list to get the things we want. Instead it reminds

us that prayer is about aligning ourselves with

God's divine purpose and will for our lives.

And it reminds us that it's about praying God

things. So I encourage you to go back and listen

to all those sermons from that series and to

just touch base with them again. and they have

lots of encouraging application points in each

of those as well. You can access those on Spotify

or through our website. But you can't go past

the simplicity of Luke's message in verse 1,

when he says, pray always and don't give up.

Now, as I prepared for today, I came to love

this parable's ending. Jesus doesn't say, when

the Son of Man comes, will He find perfect people?

He says, when the Son of Man comes, will He find

faith on the earth? So the real question isn't,

will God answer your prayers? The real question

is, will you keep trusting Him while you wait?

Faith manifests itself through persistent prayer.

It is persistence in the waiting and persistence

in the face of unanswered prayer that tests and

proves our faith in God. Sometimes when we pray,

our situation changes. Sometimes when we pray

our situation doesn't change but always when

we pray our faith deepens. So when Jesus returns

will he find people whose faith eroded because

they gave up or will he find people who always

prayed and never gave up?