Luke 18 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Luke 18:1

Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Prayer is gonna take work, discipline, and endurance, but it’s worth it. Jesus takes the time to teach His disciples the importance of persistent prayer and a dedicated prayer life. He is teaching them and us that it may not always be easy, but it’s certainly worth it!

Prayer is an amazing blessing the Lord has given us. I was thinking this morning about the beauty of prayer. It was not man who gave God prayer, but it was God who gave man prayer; why? Some of the reasons I believe He gave us prayer are:

He wants us to know He cares.

He wants us to know we can bring anything to Him.

He wants an open line of communication, an ongoing and growing relationship.

He wants to see if we will humble ourselves by bringing all of us to Him in a way that isn’t necessarily easy or natural.

Will we fight for our prayer lives the way we fight for our opinions? Because prayer, at times, is work and needs to come from our love relationship with our God. This is one of the reasons why prayer must be personal. My prayer life and your prayer life should have some common themes but must also be personal between us and our Creator. It doesn’t do me much good to pray what I think He wants to hear instead of what I’m feeling, going through, experiencing.

The other day, my mom prayed over the car before we left, and I tell you that the way she prayed and the confidence I could hear in her voice told me a lot about her personal prayer life. It encouraged me, and more than that, it honored the Lord. Does our prayer life honor God?

Colossians 4:2- Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

1 Corinthians 10:31- So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

God bless! I love you all, but His love opened the line of communication we call prayer! All praise, glory, and honor to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Luke 18:10-13

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

One man brought his self-righteous checklist, and the other brought his humble, broken, and repentant heart; which one are we bringing today? It can be easy to fall into the trap of “look what I have done for God and how devout and pious I am.” We start out with good intentions and right motives, serving God from our hearts, but then our flesh creeps in, and we fall into this sin of trying to justify ourselves by what we have done instead of Who we belong to.

We begin to judge others, all the while exposing the filth in our own hearts. Those things that we once used to glorify God with are now being used to glorify ourselves and ultimately dishonor God. It can be subtle at first, a thought here, a secret heart-posture there, but make no mistake, if we leave it unchecked, it will grow more and more. I know because I have fallen into this trap before.

So, what are we to do? The answer, my friends, is found in the second man: the man who knew he didn’t deserve God’s mercy and grace but knew that he couldn’t live without it, the man who knew that his own righteousness was useless and that only the Lord’s would do. His only hope didn’t rest on his shoulders but only on the shoulders that bore our cross! Repent and return to Him! Be humbly broken before Him, and watch Him put you back together better than before! Thank You, Jesus!

Luke 18:14- “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Jesus’ words, not mine. God bless! I love you all, but His love is the only way! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!