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Day 219

Luke 18:1-14 "WHAT IS YOUR PERCEPTION OF GOD WHEN YOU PRAY?"

Day 219 – Luke 18

Text: Luke 18:1-14

WHAT IS YOUR PERCEPTION OF GOD WHEN YOU PRAY?

Jesus sought to deepen His Disciples’ understanding of prayer from time to time. He taught them deep lessons of prayer at different junctures. Sometimes, He taught prayer when He sought to correct misconceptions and wrong practices.

When people muttered their prayers incessantly, thinking that when they send up such prayers God would surely hear them. Such practices have no value and may be traced to non-Biblical roots (Matthew 6:7).

Jesus at this point of time sought to heighten the consciousness of His Disciples of their perception of God when they prayed. If their perception of God were wrong, then they would indeed end up with being disheartened in their prayer endeavours

Do we sometimes think we come to God as if He were like the Unjust Judge in the parable Jesus told? How very wrong we are if we have this perception of God. What is your perception of God when you pray?

PRAYING TO GOD AS A JUDGE

A good number of the Psalms were prayers that were offered to God as Judge. It is not wrong to come to God and bring to Him matters that seem to require Divine Justice.

There are a number of Psalms where prayers are offered to the Lord as Supreme and Divine Judge. This Parable of the Unjust Judge seems to be directed to answer this unspoken and undefined context. The language in the reply of the Lord Jesus suggests that this theme is most likely the main reason behind why Jesus told them the Parable of the Unjust Judge.

Praying to God as a Judge is not a new concept of prayer. Perhaps there were many reasons why the people felt that they must cry out to God as their Judge. Living under strict Roman laws was anything but easy. Life could be really tough and the only recourse seems to be to appeal to God as the Righteous Judge.

EXAMPLES OF PRAYERS OFFERED TO A RIGHTEOUS JUDGE FOUND IN THE PSALMS

Let us take a look at some of the Psalms that contained the idea of praying to God as the Righteous Judge…

“The Lord shall judge the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness…”
Psalm 7:8

God is a just Judge…”
Psalm 7:11

Sometimes, the Psalmist would cry out to God to plead his cause and to vindicate him.

“Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have walked in my integrity.”
Psalm 26:1

“Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me…”
Psalm 35:1

At other times, the Psalmist had to struggle against feelings of disquiet within his soul.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him…”
Psalm 42:5

A STRONG PERCEPTION OF GOD STRENGTHENS OUR RESOLVE TO PRAY

Jesus knew how hard it must have been for people to keep faith in God and to maintain a strong prayer vigil. He offered these thoughts as encouragement to keep praying faithfully.

1. God is indeed a Judge. He is however not an unjust Judge who does not hear the cries of the people… His people!

2. God is the same Righteous Judge that the Psalmist cried out to in faith and trust. (Try reading the Psalms for deep encouragement to the soul).

3. God sees His people as “His own elect” (that is His specially chosen ones, Luke 18:7).

4. God will indeed heed the cries for justice (Cf. Psalm 35, 37).

MORE THAN JUST PRAYING TO GOD

Some limit the idea of coming to God in the ministry of prayer. Jesus taught His Disciples that there is much more to coming to God than just turning to Him in prayer! He urged His Disciples to consider this vital statement…

“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes (again),
will He really find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:8

One of the great hindrances to prayer must be the problem of a lack of faith in God! When a person lacks faith in God, he will not be able to sustain his prayer endeavours.

When Jesus walked on earth, there were only a few times when He could actually single out some people with outstanding faith! What if He were to leave the earth, how would people develop their faith in God? Would there be people with genuine and deep faith when Jesus returns for us? How strong is your faith in God? How real is your faith in Him? Let us be challenged to develop a really strong faith!