Bible Strands
Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to "them," his listeners, introducing a parable whose content follows immediately in verse 2. The moment is a teaching frame: he states the parable's purpose before telling it.
The words — Ἔλεγεν (Elegen), imperfect tense, "he was speaking," marks ongoing action rather than a single utterance. δεῖν (dein), "needing," carries necessity or obligation, not mere suggestion.
The thread — The same insistence on persistent prayer appears in Romans 12:12 ("persistent in prayer"), 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ("pray without ceasing"), and Colossians 4:2 ("devote yourselves to prayer").
Why it lands — It removes the option of giving up: prayer is framed as a need, not a luxury, and the command is to keep going when results are not visible.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Cross-references
- Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,
- Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
- Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
- Psalms 55:16 But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
- Jeremiah 29:12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Luke 21:36 So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- Galatians 6:9 Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
- Psalms 86:3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long.