ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
Greetings and welcome to the June 2026 Creating Connections, a digital monthly newsletter from the Office of Hispanic and Ethnic Relations. This year, I have been focusing on the theme of praying or interceding for people, cities, and nations. Effective prayer is simply approaching God in humble worship and with faith-filled petitions through the merits of Jesus Christ for God’s will and kingdom purpose to be done in us, in others, and in cities and nations. Jesus set the pattern: even though he was the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, he prayed daily and fervently in his humanity. His disciples observed him praying, and they asked him to teach them how to pray. The greatest challenge we face in prayer is maintaining a persistent faith to pray through the waiting, the seeming silence of God, the outer signs that nothing is happening or that nothing is better, and the accompanying despair.
In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells a parable urging persistent prayer. He speaks of an unjust judge who did not fear God nor respect man. He also speaks of a helpless and powerless widow who was facing a legal matter before an unjust opponent. She went before this judge persistently seeking justice, but he was unwilling to help her. Let’s read about this widow’s problem in Luke 18:1-4 in the NLT.
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ‘There was a judge in a certain city’ he said, ‘who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people.’”
We don’t know the details of this widow’s situation; we only know that she was helpless before her opponent and needed a just intervention by this judge. But he was unwilling to help her. Let me take a moment to say that the majority of the world’s people face situations where they look to those with the power and ability to help them, but they are often ignored. Helplessness leads to hopelessness and a sense that life is not fair. And this widow was facing a judge who did not fear God or respect the dignity of people.
In this story, the widow does not give up. Her only hope was to repeatedly go before the judge with one appeal: “Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.” Luke 18:5 reveals the response of this unjust judge: “But this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!” This judge was facing a widow who would not quit coming because she had nowhere else to go, and her heart held on to the belief that, sooner or later, this judge would have to hear her cry. This is the heart of the lesson Jesus was teaching his disciples about prayer. He was teaching them that when they pray, they should never give up. Often, it’s in our desperation about what is going wrong in our lives, our family, our city, or our nation that drives us to persistent prayer. The question we all have to ask is, are we willing to live with the way things are? Nothing is more damaging to the world we live in than Christians who have given up and choose to live in faithless apathy. We must be convinced that God is concerned about our family, our neighborhood, our city, and our nation, and therefore, we refuse to stop praying for spiritual awakening and revival. In the widow’s story, persistence pays off: her relentless appeals wear down the judge, and he grants her request.
Let's look at how Jesus contrasted the unjust judges’ change of heart with our just God, who does hear our prayers. Let’s continue reading Luke 18: 6-7. “Then the Lord said, ‘Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So, don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?’”
Jesus made it clear that if this widow could move an unjust judge to make a just decision, how much more will our just God hear and respond to the cry of His people who cry to him day and night. Let’s stop and reflect on what Jesus is saying to us in these two verses. First, he reminds us that we are God’s people, we are His children by creation, but most importantly, we are His children by redemption through Jesus Christ. We are not strangers or outsiders; we are His family, and therefore coming to Him should not cause us fear or anxiety. Secondly, our God is just, and we are not invisible to Him, nor does he ignore our cry. He sees everything, He knows everything, and He is not powerless to respond and change both our circumstances and transform us as well. Thirdly, he reminds us that God does not have office hours like an earthly judge. You can have an audience with him day and night. And I might add, Jesus is implying here that God expects His children to cry out to Him day and night.
Finally, Jesus leaves his disciples with a challenge. Let’s read Luke 18:8, “I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
Jesus reminds his disciples that God will not keep putting them off but will grant justice quickly. The key to persistent prayer is faith. Faith is connected to our ability to hear God’s voice when we read His word and see His promise and His answer before they become reality. Faith keeps us on our knees! Others may think we are foolish to pray in faith when everything seems hopeless, but faith is what moves us into another dimension of living. Often, our world is governed by unjust people who have no relationship with God, but it’s God’s people, on their knees in faith-filled prayer, who move mountains. Whatever obstacle you are facing today, or whatever circumstance a family member, a friend, or even our nation is facing, that is outside of God’s will or purpose, remember, God is waiting for you and me to come to Him in persistent prayer until something changes!
Let me close by reminding you that on July 4, 2026, the Assemblies of God will be hosting America Prays 250 at 9:00 a.m. in every time zone. On that day, at locations across the nation, people will gather to humbly pray for America and for her citizens to return to God by surrendering their hearts fully to Jesus Christ. I invite you to join us. You can find more information through the QR code on the screen. Thank you, and may God bless America with a praying church!
Dennis Rivera
Director, Hispanic & Ethnic Relations
