1 Timothy 5:5

‘Now she who is indeed a widow, and desolate, has her hope set on God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.’

This obligation to ‘honour’ widows applied to widows whose way of life demonstrated that they were genuine Christians (that does not mean that all others were ignored, only that they did not come under these strict provisions). This was tested by considering her life. The genuine Christian widow who was without resources or children, would, in her need and desolation call on God, and would attend at the local prayer groups, as Anna did in the Temple (Luke 2:37). She too had continued in ‘supplications night and day’. The reference to continuing in supplication night and day probably refers to attendance at regular daily meetings for prayer held by the local Christian groups, in the same way as the Jews had ‘hours of prayer’. Some of these meetings would have to be held at night (after dusk) so that slaves and others could attend, who were taken up with their duties all day. Thus the widows who demonstrated by this that they were true members of the church family were to be treated as family. They were not to be allowed to creep in and creep out unnoticed. It is a sad indication of where our priorities lie that such daily and nightly regular local meetings for prayer, which lonely Christians can attend, no longer exist, although in many cases they have been partly replaced by daily ‘quiet times’ and ‘family prayers’ in the Christian home. This is, of course, a fairly satisfactory substitute for some, but not for others. It leaves out those who have no family.