Bible Study “Persistent Widow”
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
Distilling the message of being faithful, Jesus seeks a way to teach his disciples: Do not give up! Do not lose hope! Perhaps Jesus, knowing the scope of God’s abundance says, to himself, "Ah, here it is: a story about a stubborn judge and a woman who does not give up hope.”
Keep in mind, as we read the story today, that women had no rights in Jesus' time. Please listen to the story Jesus told his disciples and see if you can figure out why he told them that story.
Opening Prayer: Loving God, help us to hear what you have put in this story for us, here, today. Open our ears to hear your word. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to Luke 18:1-8 and read or read the scriptures below.
Luke 18:1-8
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 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? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Reflection Questions:
- What surprised you about our reading today? What questions may have come up for you?
- Why did the woman keep going back to the judge? (Remember that women had no rights. Perhaps she was desperate or perhaps she was courageous, but she did not give up.)
- What do you think the woman might have needed? (Perhaps her opponent was someone trying to take her house away from her. Perhaps it was a lawsuit. What do you think.
- What does this story tells us about being persistent? (Sounds like Jesus is telling us to keep on praying when we need something.)
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on url)
The Persistent Widow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcyftAhJsmY
Pray Until Something Happen – Luke 18:1-8 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEa0W2rQU-E
Song
Whisper A Prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKM9tgA_Ay0 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TskT_MzjSs
Activities:
Journal: (Try and keep a journal for each Sunday for a year) write or draw in your journals: “Here is something I am grateful for”.
Brainstorm what types of things you want to hold in your prayers. Some things may be thank you prayers for someone's getting well after having been sick, for a class at school getting easier, for families and friends, for example. Then think about things you really need, not just want, but really need: a broken arm getting well, a subject in school you are having trouble with and need to understand better, for example. You can pray for the Church, its members and its mission; The Nation and all in authority; The welfare of the world; The concerns of the local community and Those who suffer and those in any trouble. Write at least one thing you want to be praying for in the next weeks in your Journal.
Persistent Prayer Chart – Draw a picture of an object and write a prayer underneath it, such as CAR (PRAY for protection and safety); HOUSE (PRAY for family who lives inside) SCHOOL, CHURCH, MUSIC NOTES, MOUTH, HANDS, EARS and EYES.
Keep On Praying Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/keep_on_praying_crossword.htm?fromSermonId=646
Keep On Praying Decoders: https://sermons4kids.com/keep_on_praying_decoder.htm?fromSermonId=646
https://sermons4kids.com/keep_on_praying_secret_message.htm?fromSermonId=646
Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/4167599/the-persistent-widow/
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for helping us remember to bring what we need to you. As we pray, give us a sense of your presence, and remind us that we are always with you and you are always with us. Amen.
