The Profit of Persistent Prayer

In verse 8, Jesus asks a seemingly strange & troubling question after teaching a parable about prayer: “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” When Jesus Christ returns, will He find genuine faith on the earth? In other words, when Jesus comes back, will He find true believers who sincerely look for Him, live for Him, worship Him, serve Him, witness for Him, & depend upon Him by faith. Or will iniquity so abound, will following Christ become so difficult & intimidating in days of tribulation, will people be so self-consumed as in the days of Noah that those who truly possess saving-faith will be so few & scattered that it’ll seem as if true saving-faith has all but evaporated from the world. We have to ask why did Christ ask this question about finding true faith at His return after telling a story about a persistent woman to illustrate prayer? At first glance the question seems almost out of place; it doesn’t appear to flow with the point He’s making. However, upon deeper consideration you find it fits perfectly with the subject of prayer. There’s a connection here. One of the marks of real, genuine, authentic faith is a continual life of dependent prayer.