Luke 18:6

‘And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says,”

Jesus then said to His disciples, ‘listen well to what this unrighteous judge says'. We can compare here the use of ‘unrighteous' with regard to the estate manager in Luke 16:8. In both cases it indicates that they were unscrupulous and did their own thing. They looked at things from a worldly viewpoint. They were not God-like. So in order to get over a powerful point Jesus was not averse to using such people as illustrations, for it often made the point that He was seeking to get over clear cut, while at the same time the reference to ‘unrighteous' is a warning against applying it too literally to God.

The point being made here is that the widow's constant pleas can be compared in some ways with genuine intercessory prayers to God, because they were effective in obtaining from the object of those pleas a ready and complete answer. The underlying lesson is that of persistence. But because he was ‘unrighteous' we are to recognise that his reasons for giving way were totally unlike those of God. God does not respond to our prayers because He is weary of them. Nor will we get our own way by wearing Him down. In fact elsewhere He has stressed that He does not answer people's prayers just because of their ‘much speaking' (Matthew 6:7). What He does guarantee to hear are genuine prayers concerning matters which are His concern, which because they matter a great deal to the suppliant, are persistent. And what Jesus is urging here is that we continue constantly with such prayers. This is not speaking of prayers just for ourselves. It has in mind prayers for what is right, prayers concerning the wellbeing, and spiritual growth and protection of His people.