Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
Parallel translations
- WEB He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up,
- KJV And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
- BSB Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
- NASB Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged,
- NLT One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus tells a parable to teach that people should always pray and not lose heart. Persistent prayer is the antidote to discouragement.
Overview
Luke supplies the parable's purpose up front: continual prayer without giving up. Set against the preceding teaching on waiting for the Son of Man, it equips disciples to endure the delay through prayer. The verse frames prayer not as a last resort but as the sustaining habit of those awaiting Christ's return.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Col 4:2Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;
- Rom 12:12rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;
- 1 Th 5:17Pray without ceasing.
- Phil 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
- Eph 6:18with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:
- Ps 55:16–17As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me.
- Jer 29:12You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
- Luke 21:36Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- Gal 6:9Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.
- Ps 86:3Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.
- Ps 102:17He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
- Luke 11:5–9He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
- 2 Cor 4:1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we don’t faint.
- Ps 142:5–7I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Col 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
- Ps 65:2You who hear prayer, to you all men will come.
- Gen 32:24–26Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
- Jonah 2:7“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
- Ps 27:13I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
- Gen 32:9–12Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’
- Heb 12:3–5For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.
- Job 27:8–10For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 18:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.