Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today Jesus starts out by encouraging his disciples to pray about what's really on their hearts, to not give up asking.

He tells a story about a wicked judge who finally caves to the persistent nagging of a local widow.

I'm really glad Jesus is not drawing a direct parallel here.

It's similar to the parable he told about the dishonest manager two days ago in Luke 16.

With that parable, he was illustrating how a worldly person handles things and was saying

the kingdom mentality and reality is better than that.

And we have that idea showing up again today. For instance, the

judge in this parable doesn't fear God or man. So if even he will relent and hear the

widows cry, then how much more would a loving father hear and respond to the cries of his kids?

It's also helpful to back up a chapter and see where this falls in the overall narrative of

what Jesus is saying here.

The last thing he talked to them about in Luke 17 was the

coming of his kingdom. He talked about times of judgment and persecution, times of

loss and perseverance, so it's fitting that he would follow that kind of story

with a reminder that God is always

listening to their needs because when trials come they need to remember where

their hope is. The promise that God hears their prayers is a far away to your

promise than say getting them a promotion or finding

them a spouse. He's definitely attentive to those things and encourages us to pray for things big,

medium, and small. He doesn't discriminate when it comes to conversations with his kids.

This is just a promise that they can pray even bigger than they may be thought possible.

...