This parable is about persisting in prayer, yet its primary content reveals a longing for justice. The story calls us less to persistence as to a longing for justice, which is the heart of all prayer.

And the world could use a little justice right about now, don’t you think?

There is always a longing for justice among those whom society oppresses. The widow, the orphan, and the stranger demand more than charity. Justice seeks to level the playing field. Mary sings of this leveling in her magnificat—justice is a matter of God’s scattering the proud and filling the bellies of the hungry. (See Luke 1:46-56.) Perhaps the judge is reluctant because justice means a demotion for him. He too would need the assistance due the widow, the orphan, and the stranger.

Justice for the poor preoccupies Luke. His Sermon on the Plain includes not just blessings for the lowly but also curses for the rich. (See Luke 6:20-26.) Jesus takes the side of the oppressed—and according to Luke alone of the Gospel writers—against the oppressor. That is, most of us.

Our world longs for justice now. Protesters take to the streets to ask for it. Many of us relatively comfortable types wish the clamor would die down. But if we stop and listen, we’ll notice the clamor is not just a nuisance. It is the very voice of God. The gospel is good news for the poor or it is not good news at all.

Every prayer is actually a prayer for justice, even if those praying remain unaware. So pray carefully in Jesus’ name. You could find yourself, like this judge, dethroned; like this widow, ennobled; like all creation, made new.