Will God Ever Answer My Prayer for Justice?

Most believers have been there…asking of God, yet hearing nothing but a quiet response of crickets chirping. We can be quick to resort to unbiblical and untrue conclusions about God because he has not provided us an answer according to our will.

However, God is always at work. Even greater than that, he is always at work for you, and in his work for you, he satisfies his own pleasure of providing for his children, thus glorifying himself by satisfying our needs.

Though knowing that may be comforting and encouraging, while praying, we may still wonder, “Is God listening, because he isn’t answering.” Jesus provided a direct answer for this very question. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus shares a parable in which a widow was persistent in asking a judge for justice against her adversary. The judge, being hard-hearted and a non-believer, continually rejected her plea, but the widow persisted.

Eventually, the judge grew weary of rejecting her plea. So, to appease her and to make his life easier so to no longer be bothered by her, he finally gave her justice.

Then in Luke 18:7, Jesus, drawing contrast between the judge and our God, said, “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.”

Unlike the judge, God is quick to rise to the defense of his children. Wouldn’t you? If injustice was done to your child, wouldn’t you do the same? God is available for justice, he is like the Superhero Flash, speedily arriving to deal justice for his loved and chosen ones.

Jesus calls us his elect in this parable for a reason. If God has chosen us out of love before the foundation of the world (Eph.1:4) to be eternally kept (Eph.1:13) for his glory and our joy, then how much more would he be ready to deal justice on our behalf now?

Jesus is specific about the situation in which God is quick to aid and provide for his children. It is for justice that God moves fast for you. Paul echoes this reality in Romans 8:33, which says, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” The principle is that there is no guilty condemnation against God’s children (Rom.8:1) because God has already judged them as forgiven and righteous.

Injustice toward another is essentially a judgment from another. For me to perform injustice toward you, is for me to declare by action that my judgment of you is worthy of receiving unjust and unqualified penalties from me. Yet, God is quick to swoop in for his elect, and declare that he has already justified you, rendering the accuser silent and incapable of charging you with judgment in the form of injustice.

So, God’s desire to serve you when unjust situations attack you, is not only for your good, it is for the sake of the gospel. He is preserving the message that his salvation has implications for this life, and that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom.8:1).

In God’s preservation of this gospel truth, and in his heroic rescue of you in your unjust situation, God is famed, and therefore glorified. And we, joyfully, receive the benefits and blessings of having yet another need satisfied by God.

So, when you pray for help, and when you call out for God to aid you against your accusers, know with confidence, as Jesus tells us, that God speedily comes to your aid.