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Day 221

Luke 18:9-14 "THE PRAYERS THAT GOD LOVES TO HEAR"

Day 221 – Luke 18

Text: Luke 18:9-14

THE PRAYERS THAT GOD LOVES TO HEAR

What are the kinds of prayers that God loved to hear? Jesus had already taught on this subject. Let us do a quick review on some of the things that Jesus had already emphasized:-

1. Jesus downplayed the prayer that calls attention to self. This was highlighted in the Gospel of Matthew. The prayer that draws attention to self may appear to be addressing God, but is in fact a proclamation of self-righteousness (Cf.Matthew 6:5). The kind of prayer that God honours is the one offered “in the secret place” (Mattthew 6:6). God honours the person who has a proper regard of self. No individual has anything to boast of, if he really understands who God is!

2. Jesus had taught His Disciples about how they should regard God as they entered into His Presence. They should be conscious of the fact that He is Father… in Heaven. His Name was to be “hallowed” (Luke 11:2). He was to be approached as One whose will on heaven and earth must be obeyed. He was after all King (Luke 11:2).

3. All prayers offered to God must be offered in humble faith. A lack of faith in God is unacceptable (Luke 18:8).

Jesus went on to teach that a person must evidence humility and contrition if his prayers were to be accepted by God. This seems so obvious. Nevertheless Jesus deemed it necessary to emphasize this vital truth! True humility before God was well expressed by the Tax Collector in this parable.

“The tax collector, standing afar off,
would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven,
but beat his breast, saying,
‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
I tell you, this man went down to his house
Justified rather than the other;
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
And he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:13-14

GREAT TRUTHS REVEALED

Jesus revealed powerful truths that we must take heed of if we wish to know that our prayers would be answered! Let us take time to study the things Jesus highlighted.

1. CONSCIOUSNESS OF SINFULNESS

The tax collector was portrayed as one most conscious of sin in his life. This is the starting point in prayer! How conscious we must be of the problem of sin in life. Consider the following prayers offered by some of God’s great servants…

“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.” Isaiah 6:5

This consciousness of sin was also evidenced in the prayer Daniel offered.

“And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession,
and said, ‘O Lord, great and awesome God,
who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him,
and with those who keep His commandments,
We have sinned and committed iniquity,
We have done wickedly and rebelled,
Even by departing from Your precepts…
O Lord, to us belongs shame of face,
To our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
Because we have sinned against You.
To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness,
Though we have rebelled against Him.”
Daniel 9:4-5, 8

The Tax collector in the parable was theologically correct when he cried out for mercy in his consciousness of his sinfulness before a great and holy God.

2. SEEKING THE MERCY OF GOD

What should we look for when we come into the Presence of God in prayer? Next to consciousness of personal sinfulness, we must seek the mercy of God. Seeking the mercies of God seems to be something many have taken for granted. This is a problem that must be addressed and corrected. We must never take God’s mercies for granted.

Let us consider the following prayers offered by Nehemiah. Note how they pleaded the mercy of God.

“I sat down and wept, and mourned many days;
I was fasting and praying, before the God in heaven.
And I said…
‘O great and awesome God, You who keep covenant
And mercy with those who love You
And observe Your commandments…’ “
Nehemiah 1:4,5

Perhaps the greatest example of consciousness of the mercy of God is found in
Psalm 136. The constant refrain in this Psalm is “For His mercy endures forever”. This was the theme of the Psalmist as he traced the Lord’s hand of blessing in the history of the nation of Israel.

3. SEEKING GOD IN TRUE HUMILITY

The sinful tax collector asked for nothing from God. If God would forgive him at all, that would have been more than sufficient! This spirit of humility was what Jesus commended. He who is truly humble in prayer would be honoured by God indeed! Let us cultivate a truly humble spirit before the Lord when we seek Him in prayer!