To See Or Not To See? That Is The Question.

All seems very wonderful on the surface. How wonderful it is for men to pray! How wonderful as in the days of old when we first read of how men began to call upon the name of the Lord in Genesis 4:26. So now we see in Luke 18 the telling from Jesus of two men, two prayers. The declaration being made to the same God, the only true and living God, this being the one thing that both men had in common. What opportunities can be had for us?, can be had for the world?, if but this one revelation would strike to the hearts of all mankind to come before the One, the Only, True Living God!

Of course as we read further into Jesus telling of what individual prayers that were being spoken between these two men, we soon come to learn that the fact they were speaking to the same God is where their similarities would both began and would end. We actually began to see a great gulf of contradiction on the approach to God by these two men.

You know the heart is such a true indicator of all we think and do. What we find there however, is not always pleasant. As we read in Jeremiah 17:9 when it says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” I find this verse particularly compelling as it both relays those unpleasant facts of the heart along with the posing of a question; who can know it?

To the last part, there is an answer discovered, Jeremiah 17:10…I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. The God to which both these men prayed to, it is God and God alone that truly is the answer to the question of the heart. He is the maker of every heart because He formed the hearts of all. He alone knows it with all its intent as seen in Luke 16:15… And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Psalm 44:21… Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Proverbs 21:2… Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.

In relation to the heart, we see from scripture that God is completely thorough in His knowledge of each and every heart that began with Adam till now until the end of the age.

From the above mention scriptures alone we see that God…

Searches hearts

Knoweth the secrets of the heart

Pondereth(Weighs) the hearts

With all this being said and many more scriptures could be shared concerning the heart alone, I really in reference to our two men, want to share just one more….1 Samuel 16:7… But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

One more thing we see here is that the Lord looketh on the heart.

The Pharisee of our story saw himself as a big man in his community. Big men rarely feel the need to truly seek the Lord. They don’t pray prayers unto God that reflect their true place in humanity, they don’t see as God sees, that all our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)… But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

These are they that say they see, but they are blind(John 9,40,41)… And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Jesus tells us that when the Pharisee opened his mouth to begin his prayer, that he prayed thus with himself. Can I tell you friend he thought he was praying to God, but in reality it was just a front. He was just praying thus unto himself. Many a mans prayer has only been thus unto himself which makes those the saddest of any prayer to be prayed.

The man that was there praying that day in which the Lord was communing with his heart was the publican. The publican stood afar off and he was broken hearted. Psalm 34:18… The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Jesus goes on to tell us that the publican(Luke18:13)… And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.