As Jesus gets closer and closer to Jerusalem in Luke’s gospel, his focus begins to shift to concern for his followers. From the distance of time, we know, as Jesus does, that the disciples are about the face the loss of their teacher, and a crisis of faith.

With this concern in mind, Jesus begins teaching his disciples by means of a parable, and Luke tells us the point of the parable is about our “need to pray always and not lose heart.” As the parable of an unjust judge and a persistent widow unfolds, we realize that prayer is essential for not losing heart. But what about prayer is essential?

Jesus appears to give us the answer to that question when he points our focus toward the unjust judge. If even an unjust judge will relent in response to a widow’s pleas, how much more will God respond to us? Jesus is not suggesting the unjust judge reflects God’s character, instead Jesus paints a picture of a God who is even more ready to listen to our persistent pleas, than the parable’s judge.

If God longs to respond to our prayers, then Jesus must be commending the disciples, and us, to pattern our life of prayer after the persistent widow who will not be silenced. Persistence is essential for not losing heart.

That’s one way to think about Jesus’ parable. But let’s be honest, if persistence is essential for not losing heart, we will always fall short. Too often, we can be closed off, indifferent to the cries of this world, concerned with our own security and comfort. Maybe Jesus has a different message for us.

What if the persistent widow who shows up pleading for justice is God? And what if the unjust God who neither fears God nor respects anyone is me?

In this parable, Jesus teaches about our “need to pray always and not to lose heart.” His parable reveals that prayer is the willingness, however reluctantly offered, to allow God in to keep softening our heart and opening our lives.

Our life of prayer is not about changing God’s heart toward us. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has acted for eternity to redeem us. We will not change God’s mind toward us. Instead, our prayer is essential because it acts as a confession that God, like that persistent widow, is always creating new hearts in us — hearts that never forget that love of God and our neighbor is what marks us as Christ’s followers in the world.