Avenge Me of My Adversary

Luke 18:3

And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

Jesus tells a story about a widow who had an adversary. He did not say what the adversary was; He just said that she had an adversary that she could not care for by herself. Her response to this adversary was to go to someone who could help avenge her of this adversary. When she went to the judge, this judge didn't care about her situation; however, she would not give up. Instead, this widow kept coming before the judge to ask him to avenge her of her adversary. Eventually, this judge helped her, not because he wanted to, but because she would not stop bothering him. He felt it would be better to care for her situation than to be consistently bothered by this woman.

This situation is a great lesson on prayer. The difference between this widow and us is that we have a Judge who does care for us, and that Judge is God. We know that God loves us for John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world…. You are part of God’s world; therefore, God loves you no matter what you have done. God did not say if this widow was a good or bad lady, but we know that she got her request answered. My friend, God does not answer your prayer because you are better than someone else; God answers your prayer because He loves you and is a merciful God. Let’s face it; nobody deserves to have their prayers answered. Every one of us is a sinner, a person who has sinned against God, but He still loves us. The fact that Jesus used this judge to represent the believer coming to Him with their request means that He wants YOU to come to Him with your problems.

There are two keywords in this verse that we must look at to determine what we can bring to God. The first word is adversary. An adversary is an opponent. Your opponent or adversary could be health, financial struggle, ministry struggles, family struggles, or something else. Your adversary is what is against you in life. God wants you to come to Him about your adversary of life.

The second word is avenge. The word avenge means to exact retribution against your adversary. The fact that Jesus did not say the adversary was a person is encouraging because He is teaching that you ought to come to Him to ask if He will exact retribution against that which is trying to hurt you. I am a person who believes in using Scriptural terminology in my prayers. When I see that Jesus tells a story about a prayer being answered, I use the same wording of the prayer to get my prayers answered. Therefore, in this situation, I would go to God and say, “God, avenge me of my adversary of….” It is good to tell God what your adversary is and ask Him to avenge you of this adversary. You can remind God that He avenged this widow of her adversary, and because He is a just God, you are asking Him to avenge you of yours.

The key to this whole lesson on prayer is never stop asking God to avenge you of your adversary. Verse 7 promises, And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? Keep on asking God to avenge you of your adversary. Don't just ask Him in the morning, but go to Him as the Scriptures teach, day and night. It is the believer who never stops going to God day and night to ask Him to avenge them of their adversary who finds God answering their prayer. Simply put, don't stop begging God for the answer UNTIL you get it.