We continue our worship of God through the Gospel of Luke; the Good News of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Please open your Bibles to Luke Chapter 18…..
We noted several weeks back from Chapter 14 of Luke that God Jesus Christ looks for not just followers but true disciples. And so, Jesus taught His First Disciples about salvation, life, and living a life of increasing faith. God preserved Jesus’ words and stories in the Bible, so that all who desire to be discipled by Jesus Christ can also learn.
If you think you know it all, watch out! Pride comes before the fall! Remember our motto several weeks back: Don’t be a KIA, be a FIAT! God will humble Know-It-Alls but God will exalt those who are Faithful, Inquisitive, Available, and Thankful!
If you’re a FIAT and not a KIA then let us learn from Jesus Christ today!
Let us pray together our commitment to His Word…….
Now, there is much said in Luke 18; and so, let us take a look at each section of the Chapter, then discuss the common focus which is actually stated in v1… Always pray and not give up!
Read along with me Luke 18:1-8………..
And so what is the lesson here? Persistence will bring results!
Now, does this mean nagging?
Was Jesus saying, if you nag enough, you will get what you want?
Did you notice the last part of v8? What was Jesus saying there? Disciples of Christ are to be persistent in their prayers (asking God over and over) but the disciple must have faith in God. Persistence in prayer is only good if done I accordance to God’s will. Prayer must be in faith; and, there is no faith in God when there is no trust in God’s will.
Godly persistent prayers are in accordance with God’s will.
Nagging persistent prayers are in accordance to one’s selfish will.
Let’s continue with v9-14….
Two men went to church and prayed; a good thing, like you and me at church today! But….
What did the Pharisee do wrong??
a. Self-righteous!
b. Looked down on others!
What did the Tax collector do right??
a. Sincere
b. Confessed sins
c. Humble
What can we learn from this story?
Pray, pray, pray, but Pray with humility!
Memorize James 4:10, Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. You see, the opposite of this is also true: Lift yourself with your ego and God will humble you!
How humble should we be? Jesus answers this question in v15-17……
Be humble to God like a little child!
In v16, Jesus reiterated what He said in Luke 17 about causing people to stumble. Here in Luke 18:16, Jesus warned people of hindering children to come to Him. We must always love children and we must be careful of hindering children from coming to God because of how we live and what we teach!
Again, Jesus taught His disciples and now He is teaching us with the main lesson from the beginning of Luke 18, “Always pray and not give up!” For now, let us focus on what we learned from v1-17. We will learn more next week from the back half of Luke 18.
Let us summarize the applications for us from the principles in Luke 18:1-17. What does it mean for us today to Always pray and not give up!
How busy are our lives today? Besides caring for ourselves and work, whether it is work in or out of the home or schooling, what things occupy our lives today??
We find many things to do with the time God has given us. Jesus Christ tells us to always pray. How obedient are we to our Savior and Lord about prayer? Do we even give prayer a thought in the things that we do? What is prayer? Prayer is simply talking to God! And so,
1. Always talk to God with everything that you do!
How often do we really talk to God? God welcomes our constant conversations with Him. We are to be persistent with our prayers to God!
And how do we pray to God? How do we talk to God?
We are to talk to God about His will in our lives. You see, most of the time we pray like this “Lord, here’s what I want to do, help me!” Our prayers should be, “Lord, what would you want to happen in my life, teach me and help me to do Your will!”
2. Whatever we are doing in our lives, ask “Lord, is what I am doing according to your will?”
3. Always talk to God in humility, like a child totally dependent on a parent.
Close your eyes for a moment and picture yourself as a little child in a darkroom; now listen to the voice of God the Father, take His hand, talk to Him, and follow his instructions!
Let’s all take a moment right now to quietly pray to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Take an inventory of what you do during the week and ask “Lord, are these things that I am doing part of Your will in my life? If not, I confess them to You and please help me to avoid them!”
