In his first letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul warns his son in the faith that in “latter times some will depart from the faith” (1st Timothy 4:1). In the religious world, this action is defined as an apostasy. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an apostasy is defined as the renunciation of a religious faith or the abandonment of a previous loyalty (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). After predicting the inevitable destruction of the temple, our Master warns his disciples of this same spiritual plague, instructing them to remain vigilant “because iniquity shall abound, [and] the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:11-13). The teachings from the Master and the apostle are one and the same; therefore, it is wise to pause and consider what can determine if our souls have been infected by the disease commonly called discouragement. This infection of the soul is seriously dangerous because it is undetectable until it has severely damaged a man’s spiritual life. Discouragement transforms into apostasy when a frigid indifference replaces our fear and devotion for God. In other words, as it was written to the church in Ephesus, man abandons his first love (Revelation 2:1-4). The passion that once fiercely burned in the heart of a man and drove him to reverently and gleefully serve God, begins to slowly dissolve until it is nothing more than ashes of a monotonous routine. Hence, why the urgency behind the Master’s plea that those who serve Him keep in constant communication with God the Father (Luke 18:1-8). Before introducing his readers to the parable, Luke explains its purpose by stating that “men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Observe that the remedy given to us by the Lord to maintain our spirit burning is prayer. The same is true if we were to state the opposite. A man who never prays will lose heart and consequently become indifferent to his godliness. Once more, the apostle Paul mirrors the Master’s teachings by exhorting the Thessalonian brethren to “pray without ceasing…do not quench the Spirit” (1st Thessalonians 5:17-19). Again, the opposite is just as true and dangerous: ceasing to pray will quench the Spirit. The parable’s purpose begins to illuminate why praying is so important in the life of a Christian. Prayer is the means of communication between man and God. Through the avenue of prayer, man firmly grasps on to his faith in God. It serves as an anchor in the treacherous seas of a world poisoned by doubt. Prayer fortifies he who practices it constantly because he is confident that God will respond (Hebrews 11:6, James 5:13). The threat of apostasy in the life of a Christian originates when prayer begins to disappear in his life. Like a small cough or a sneeze begins to hint a flu lingering nearby, the same is true for a Christian who has begun to slowly stop praying. These are symptoms of spiritual discouragement that, if ignored or dismissed, will transform into a fatal apostasy. In the parable presented by Luke, the Lord illustrates how often His disciples should be praying. He compares us to an importunate widow who seeks justice daily without growing weary. No matter how unjust the judge she plead to was, she never desisted from obtaining justice for herself. She did not allow the fact that the judge “did not fear God, nor regard man” disillusion her from reaching her goal. Instead, it was because of this that the widow constantly insisted to this man, until finally she convinced him to do her justice against her adversary (Luke 18:1-5). In His teaching, our Master does not deny the truth of how dire our condition will become in this world. As it has been noted by Matthew, our Savior had foretold that iniquity in the world would alarmingly increase, provoking many of His followers to lose all hope for salvation and quit Christianity. Our Lord presents these astounding conditions in His parable as the judge who was neither God fearing nor compassionate for his fellow man. Unequivocally, the ominous words of our Lord have come into fruition. Although it is true that in its direct context Jesus spoke of the coming persecution His disciples would suffer at the hands of those who opposed the practice of His doctrine, this lesson is still applicable to our lives today. Let us recall that the purpose of the parable is to encourage His disciples to pray without ceasing. The Lord sought to solidify their complete reliance upon God, reminding them that they would be praying to a Being who is just and compassionate unlike the judge from the parable. He emphasizes this point by showing His followers that unlike man, God is always fair and righteous and is well aware of the needs of His people. Therefore during those periods of tribulation man should seek God the most. It is undeniable that in the times we live in, fear for our God has tremendously vanished. Consequently, mercy and compassion between men has dissipated being supplanted by greed and selfishness. This sad and cruel reality of man further proves, as predicted by our Lord, the rapid rise of iniquity in the world as a result of the absence of man’s fear of God. An absence that began to develop from the moment man chose to stop believing in the true power of prayer. When the Master concludes His parable, He poses a question that demonstrates this to be true. The Lord asks, “when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:8b)? Before He poses this question, Jesus assures His disciples that His Father will respond to every prayer He receives from His children. He then asks this question to make emphasis as to how dire the condition of man’s relationship with God will truly be as a result of the increasing iniquity. The lesson our Lord bestows upon the disciples is that ceasing to pray is equal to man no longer believing in God. In other words, man stops praying when his faith in God becomes obsolete. This is why man’s apostasy grows from ceased prayer. The argument is made that the United States began its departure from God when it approved to remove public prayer from the schools. An unfortunate victory that was concocted and arduously promoted by the atheists. An impious group that openly and publicly acknowledges not to believe in the Almighty God. A dangerous group where several of its members once belonged to an ecclesiastical entity, but fell into apostasy when God did not “answer” their prayers in their hour of need. A disastrous result from falling into the snare our Master had already revealed existed and ignoring His pleas of remaining steadfast in prayer and trusting in the wise judgment of the Father. Therefore, His question means to point the spotlight and illuminate how dreadful abandoning all communication with the Father can truly be. Ceasing to pray, as taught by our Lord, will result in a world without the magnificent presence of God. A world without His Divine presence is harsh and indifferent, frighteningly nearing its total self-destruction.
