Power in Prayer

One New Year's Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the Standard Oil Company. With its vast oil resources, its truck was out of gas.

Often, Christians neglect their spiritual maintenance, and though they are "clothed with power" (Luke 24:49) find themselves out of gas.

-Steve Blankenship in God Came Near by Max Lucado, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 95.

We’re talking about prayer power today, and as the illustration indicated, we can be clothed with power, but at the same time our conduct can lead to a situation where we lack power.

Matthew 16:13-27 is our scripture for today. Beginning in verse 13:

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

Jesus asks his own disciples this simple question, Who do people think I am?

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

It makes me think of our modern time. Everyone has an opinion about who Jesus was. He was good teacher. He was a wise man. He never really existed. Many try to claim Jesus as part of their own cause, they make Jesus the banner for themselves and their own agenda, Jesus was just a good democrat, Jesus was just a good republican. Jesus was an anti-war pacifist. Jesus was a feminist. Jesus was a revolutionary. Jesus was a patriot. And on and on it goes. They claim Jesus for their own cause. They twist the message of Jesus, to fit into what they want to believe.

In the time when Jesus walked the Earth, there was much confusion, some thought he was Elijah or John the baptizer, or one of the prophets come back to life.

But Jesus turns to his own disciples and says…

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

That’s what really matters. There will always be a lot of confusion in the world about who Jesus is. Why? Because people want to believe what people want to believe. And do what they want to do.

Christians are unique in the world because we’ve dared to flip the script and say no, I want to get on board with what Jesus is doing, my way doesn’t work.

But even we Christians can get this question wrong, about who Jesus is. Why? Because we’re human.

Was Jesus a Baptist, Calvinist, Methodist, church of God, Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, non-denominational, Salvation Army, Episcopal, Congregational or even a Nazarene?

Some Christians say Jesus was all about love and would never correct someone’s sin, others say Jesus was only about truth and justice! But the truth is Jesus came full of both grace and truth. He was gentle and loving and firm and truthful.

Our emotions get in the way, we want Jesus to fit what our emotions prefer, but Jesus’ words often don’t fit into the little box we create for them. So we must reach past our emotions and hold onto the truth. 

As we talk today about power in prayer, its so important that we understand the true source of that power is Jesus, not what we think about him, but what he says about Himself.

Next, Simon answers this question of who Jesus is...

Verse 16: Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

The famous pastor A W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Over our lives as Christians we grow in deeper and deeper understanding of who God is. How does this happen? By God revealing Himself to us.

Next verse 17: Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven."

It’s almost as if, when we look at Jesus we have veils, numerous veils over our eyes, the eyes of our heart. And as we grow as Christians, slowly one by one the veils are removed, and we see Jesus more and more clearly.

I can think of so many ways God has refined and built my understand of Jesus, I’m sure you can too. When I first got saved, I viewed Jesus as simply my savior. Over time I came to see Him as my friend. I came to see Him as my companion. I came to see Him as one I could love. And it just grows from there, soon we start to see Him as King of the entire planet. And pretty soon as God who holds the universe together... That he holds this little planet of ours like it was an ornament in his hands.

How big is your view of Jesus? I think today, it’s time to make it a little bigger. But wherever you are on that spectrum of how you view Jesus, he accepts you at that point, but he also wants you to grow.

Here’s a key point for today’s message: The bigger you view Jesus, the bigger your prayer power will be.

Jesus continues in verse 18: “18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Simon receives a new name, Peter, and Jesus tells him, he will be foundational to the birth of the early church.

Saints, when you pray in power, you act as a warrior of the kingdom of God. When you do you act in the new man, the old man is gone, but the new has come, and you have a new name in glory. And the gates of hell cannot overcome the prayers we pray in the power of God.

Next, 19-20: "19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah."

Peter here was told that he would have the keys to the kingdom of heaven and his leadership would include establishing patterns in the early church that would be in effect on Earth and in heaven.

How does this relate to prayer? When we enter the prayer world, and we close our eyes, and begin to speak, we enter a world where we access doorways in the kingdom of God.

And we can “bind” certain things. We can pray against evils in the world, and bind their progress. We can pray and ask the Lord to stop the spread of evil. We can bind demons and principalities. We can ask the Lord to stop (and even reverse) the agendas of Satan in the world.

We can also “loose” certain things. We can pray and ask God’s favor to spread the gospel in our city. We can pray deliverance on people caught in addictions. We can call on heaven’s angels to surround our services. We can pray for heaven to come to Earth. We can pray in the midst of our city and dedicate it to the Kingdom of God. 

These things are power in prayer. This power belongs to us as believers in Jesus. The power deepens more and more as we comprehend the power of Christ, and how big he is. But now we must understand the nature of that power. Because it is not like the power of the world. It is holy power.

Jesus is going to help all of us understand kingdom power, and it is not what most of us would expect.

Verses 21-22: "21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

So we see kingdom power is about radical service. Jesus gives us the ultimate example, in that his kingdom power is expressed perfectly in his own death.

The disciples including Peter do not understand this concept. In fact for most of their ministry together with Jesus, they felt he would lead a victory against the Romans, and be seated on a throne in Jerusalem itself, to lead the entire world.

But that concept is based in worldly power. That they would be important, wealthy, enthroned over the Earth, that is what they wanted. But that is not quite how kingdom power works in our present reality. (Though one day when Jesus returns, kingdom power will be expressed in a millennial reign of Christ, where he is seated in glory on the physical Earth.)

Peter here goes from a moment when he’s praised by Jesus in front of all the disciples, to a moment when he looks pretty silly. He rebukes Jesus, saying, no, you won’t go to the cross. Never.

Verse 23, Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

It’s a great reminder that one moment we can be in perfect alignment with God’s will, and the next moment completely in alignment with Satan.

I believe Satan was actually present in this moment, and tempted Peter to speak this way, to produce a stumbling block for Jesus. And Jesus quickly notices what’s happening. Peter had just spoken from something revealed to Him by God, and immediately Satan counters by tempting him to speak something from the devil. And Peter does it.

Remember that in your prayer battles: Power in prayer, means discerning the will of God, by the leading of the Holy Spirit. At those moments when we do, its amazing. But, the enemy is also trying to disrupt our prayers, and lead us to pray things that won’t be effective.

Peter misunderstood kingdom power, he thought it meant Jesus couldn’t die. But kingdom power when it’s active is humble, self-giving, even to the point of death.

Next, verse 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. “

Deny myself. Look myself right in the eyes, and say to myself, "You can’t have what you want."

I’m going to, through prayer, submit my very desires, what I want in my heart, to God, and ask God to transform it into what he desires.

And that manifests each day by choosing that day, to take up the cross of what God has put before us. For me, that’s being a pastor, and some days its awesome, some days it’s tough, but my choice is to take up the cross of service each day.

What is your cross of service? Kingdom power is linked to humble focus on God’s will, not our own.

We must set aside the age old problem of selfish ambition. And what is selfish ambition? It is really the opposite of humble kingdom service. Selfish ambition is, I’m going to get what I want through power I can exert. And the more we practice this approach, of selfish ambition, which is sin, kingdom power diminishes.

But when we carry our cross, this humble lifestyle of kingdom service absolutely unleashes prayer power. The path to deeper and deeper kingdom prayer power is carrying the cross of humble service.

That’s where we get these amazing old church ladies, who seem to humble, so mild, so simple, so quiet and reserved, and yet when they pray, hell shakes, lives are changed, and people get healed. That is a woman of God, they are hidden, yet so obvious, a hero of the faith, they are so humble, yet their kingdom prayers from God are astonishing.

Note that kingdom power in prayer is always a gift from God, it’s not something we muster up in ourselves. And the lower we get, the more humble, the more devoted, the more honorable, the more centered on Christ, the more God pours out his anointing of power on that person.

And the more prideful we become, the more focused on self and pleasure and worldly stuff, the less God pours out that anointing of power. That’s the real battle we face each day in this world, kingdom service vs. Selfish ambition.

A word on this though, to be humble and take up your cross, is not to be a push over or weak. It is not to let people walk on you. Remember that, as God’s people we stand on our feet. We speak the truth boldly, we stand firm. But we do it out of love and service, not self.

Verse 25 “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

We can’t hold onto our own lives. We were born again. And walking in the new man, or woman, means losing yourself in Christ, and by losing yourself in Christ, you find your real life.

Verse 25 explains the surrender that occurs in our hearts. Fed up with selfish ambition we throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus, in tears, Lord, I tried it my way, it didn’t work, I’m giving it all to you. Your way Lord, not mine.

Next verse 26: "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?"

This statement by Christ is such a pleading to the heart of men and women everywhere, through all of history, who want to try to hold onto their own power. It’s such a desperate cry to them, "Give it away!"

Why gain even the whole world, become a billionaire, everything you could want, but in the end, lose your own soul?

But for all of us today, Christ sees our hearts. And if we’ve really given ourselves to the pilgrim way, the way of surrender, the way of taking up our cross and following Jesus, we will have ever increasing kingdom power in our prayers. And those prayers will carry a weight from God, an anointing, that rises up, and God answers those prayers, in power.

But if you’re wrestling with your own desires today, that’s ok, we all do at certain points, trying to fight it isn’t necessarily the answer. Though there are times to fight. But the answer is found in surrender, praying, and saying Lord, I can’t do this anymore, I surrender my desires to you. Make them new.

Then the Lord will show us action steps, to overcome these issues. Praise the Lord!

Last two verses 27-28: "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Why walk the pilgrim way of humility? It’s the right thing to do. It’s pure, it’s beautiful, it’s the way of love. But also remember, the end game, Jesus is coming back. And Jesus promises, if you’ve lived in my kingdom power, praying in that power, I will reward you for every good deed you did.

The next life, in paradise, will include rewards, such as crowns that you’ll wear, beautiful details of your mansion in heaven, and in your proximity to the throne of God.

Jesus even tells some of the disciples, they wouldn’t see death before they saw Jesus in his glory. And for some of us here today, the same may be true, we may actually be alive when Jesus returns to this Earth. Hallelujah, thank you Jesus!

So in conclusion today… let's review our message today:

As we grow in our walk with God, our view of Christ gets bigger and bigger, and more complex, and more beautiful.

We accept Christ for who he really is, not who we would want to make him out to be.

As we grow in Christ, we gain more and more kingdom power in our prayers to bind and loose realities in our world.

But this kingdom power stubbornly refuses to serve our own ends, and does not result in our own desires being fulfilled, but Christ’s will.

As we choose to carry our cross, and humbly follow the Spirit’s leading, we pray in increasing God given power.

If we choose to seek after selfish ambitions, our kingdom power will diminish, and our prayers will be hindered.

Today I challenge you, choose that pilgrim way of humility, taking up your cross, and praying in the kingdom power. As you do, you’ll become a beautiful example of the love of Jesus in this world. Your prayers will change lives and transform this world. Remember, Christ is coming soon, to reward the good deeds of those who have served Him.

The Prayer of Faith: Believing in the One with All Authority

Faith honors God and God honors faith! A story from the life of missionaries Robert and Mary Moffat illustrates this truth. For 10 years this couple labored faithfully in Botswana, Africa without one ray of encouragement. They could not report a single convert. Finally the directors of their mission board began to question the wisdom of continuing. But they felt sure that God was in their labors.

They stayed; and for a year or two longer, nothing change. Then one day a friend in England sent word to the Moffats that she wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like. Mrs. Moffat replied, "Send us a communion set; I am sure it will soon be needed." She acted in faith. And the Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the villagers, and soon a little group of six converts formed the first Christian church in Botswana. The communion set from England was delayed in the mail; but on the day before the first communion service in Botswana, the set arrived.” -Unknown.

One of the hardest things I think is to see faith as real and actual. It’s not easy, when like the Moffats, we don’t see results. In the face of a dry desert of what looks like failure, can we keep believing?

We have this odd category as Americans, when we hear a spiritual truth, as if it’s somehow kind of true, but we put it into this category of 'that’s nice, but it’s not really real.' We place it in this category almost like it’s a nice myth. And I want to encourage us today, to throw out that category. It doesn’t exist. Can you truly believe in your inner most heart, that every word God says is really true, for you, today?

Today we examine the prayer of faith, and here we get to the very heart of what prayer is. Here is a definition I want to give you for intercessory prayer: Prayer is a request that we believe God for.

Sometimes I catch myself praying, but not really believing that God is going to answer. You ever do that? You’ve asked it so many times, that you just assume as soon as you start praying, it won’t actually happen. Again, we need to reject that form of prayer, because it is useless.

Faith is the key requirement for any prayer. And what is faith? Believing God will make it happen. Even more so, believing God has already made it happen.

Jesus said, "Believe you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24).

That is not believing God can, but believing God already has.

Where is the power in this scenario? The power comes entirely from God. We do not have power in ourselves. But the door through which the power arrives is our faith. Our trust in God and confidence in Him, from that, the power flows through the open door.

We’re going to learn all about the prayer of faith today. And I think it’s going to come from a somewhat surprising source.

We’re in Luke chapter 7 today, in an incident where Jesus receives a request to heal someone.

Jesus had been teaching, giving the sermon on the mount in fact, and then after, we see Jesus moving to visit the city of Capernaum.

It says in Luke 7:1-2, “ When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.”

Jesus is going about his work, preaching and teaching, and then a problem occurs. There is a situation that takes place, a centurion’s servant is sick and about to die.

What does this have to do with prayer for us today?

We often are living our lives as Christians and we discover that someone we love is sick or injured, and in need of God’s help.

Like the centurion’s servant, who was highly favored by his master, this person we know, who we’re praying for, is valued highly by God. Yet, they are in danger. And so we move toward an action based in love, we move to prayer.

One thing to note: It is impossible to hate someone that you are actively praying for. Try it. I always tell people if you have a resentment toward someone, pray for them for two weeks, that God would bless them with every good thing you want in life. And watch what God does in your heart during those two weeks.

We prayer warriors, and all Christians should be prayer warriors, know that our loved one is highly favored by the Lord, and we begin to pray. We lift them up to the Lord, crying out for mercy for them. And so begins a battle of prayer.

Verse 3 says, “The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.”

The centurion knew Jesus was near, and sends word to him, asking him to come and heal his precious servant. Just like the centurion sends word to Jesus, we send word to Jesus for our loved ones.

The centurion believed something in his heart: Jesus has the power to help my servant. 

Do you believe the same about Jesus? That Jesus has power to do anything you need? That Jesus has power to heal you? That Jesus has power to save you?

We may say we believe it, in our mind, but does our heart believe that? The mind is good. But the heart, that’s where the power comes. Because, if our heart really did believe it, 100%, then we’d probably never stop praying. But maybe our heart is kind of like what we talked about at the beginning, it’s true but it is, but it’s not, but it kind of is. This is double-minded thinking. We can overcome that, to believe entirely, that Jesus does in fact have the power.

I remember in 2011 and 2012 when I was a non-believer, I was reading the Bible my grandfather gave me, studying Jacob’s ladder, watching the gospel of John movie over and over. But my heart did not believe that Jesus had power. I did not believe Jesus was really real. I did not believe he could change my life.

But, as I watched that movie over and over and read the word, one night it came to me, that if I cried out to Jesus, Jesus could help me.

When we pray, it comes from a heart belief that Jesus really can help whatever situation we’re facing.

Next we see the friends of the centurion speaking to Jesus. 

Verses 4-5, “When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

When we pray, we also come to Jesus, and we plead earnestly with Him for the person we’re praying for. I think it’s always wise to make a case for them, 'Lord show mercy they’ve been through so much, God they love you dearly, build a case in your prayer, plead with the Master.'

The men tell Jesus, he’s worthy to have this done for him, he loves our nation and built our synagogue. This is an honorable man. I think it can affect how our prayers our answered, if we’re living an impure life, or mistreating others, we’re less likely to have our prayers answered.

Men are told in the word of God, don’t mistreat your wives, so your prayers aren’t hindered. So clearly our conduct can affect whether our prayers will be answered (1 Peter 3:7)

Verse 6 says, “So Jesus went with them…”

Every prayer we pray, we pray with the ending statement, 'in Jesus name, amen.' That's a statement of authority. 

Jesus didn’t do anything in his own authority when he was on earth, it says in John 14:10-13 “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”

Jesus did everything by the authority of the Father, who dwelled within Him. And Jesus gives us a similar instruction. Just as Jesus did everything by the authority of the Father, we are commanded to pray in the authority of Jesus Christ, and we are told, you will receive what you ask for.

Jesus told his disciples, when they met in the upper room, right before he would be crucified… “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.”

Just as Jesus honored the Father, so we also by praying in Jesus name, bring glory to the Father as well. Jesus is seated with the Father in heaven right now, so he is able to receive our prayers, and answer them.

That’s why we pray in Jesus name, its shocking but what we’re saying is, 'on behalf of Jesus, I ask for this. In Jesus’ authority, this will happen, Amen.'

It’s like Jesus goes with us, and we act in His name and authority, which is shocking.

Second portion of verse 6, “He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.”

The centurion sends word to Jesus as he gets closer, don’t even bother coming under my roof. He hasn’t even seen Jesus, and yet he believes so completely.

We face the same challenge, in that we don’t see God directly. We weren’t alive when Jesus walked the Earth. We weren’t one of his twelve disciples. We didn’t watch God create the Earth. We didn’t see Moses lead millions through the wilderness. We didn’t watch David’s battle with Goliath. But we have seen God at work in our lives in mighty ways.

And to be honest, we have the creation. I was watching a Facebook reel recently, it was of the famous atheist Christopher Hitchens, and he was being asked what was the best argument Christians had that God is really real. And he said the fine tuning of everything. That when we look at the universe, stars, systems, nature, DNA, animals, it all looks designed by a creative intelligence.

We have creation, but we can’t see God physically. We can sense His presence, we can see evidence of His works in changed lives, but we can’t see Him.

And that is why Jesus is so impressed by the faith of the centurion. For at the end of verse 7 he utters this amazing phrase that has stood the test of time…

“But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

After Jesus had been crucified, the disciples were in hiding. Some of them claimed to have seen Jesus alive and walking around. But Thomas said, I will not believe unless I put my hand in the scars in his hands and feet and put my hand into his side where he was pierced.

And then Jesus walked into the room, and came right up to Thomas, and said, "Stop doubting and believe." And maybe some of us need that same reminder today, stop doubting and simply believe. It’s really true. Take it to the bank! Jesus is real and he’s alive.

But what Jesus says next is amazing: You believe because you see me, blessed are those who believe without seeing me.

That’s you and me. We don’t see Jesus physically. We can’t put our hands into his wounds. But we know he’s alive. We know he’s God. We know he’s able to do anything. And so did the centurion.

He knew Jesus has all power. He told Jesus, just speak the word, and my servant will be healed. That is amazing faith!

Speak the word… Who is the word? In John 1, we discover that Jesus is the living word of God.

When God speaks, it means power.

It’s fascinating if you study the power of sound, and music. In cymatics, when music is played at certain frequencies, sand on a flat plate with rearrange into complex geographic shapes. The vibrations from music will actually affect the layout of matter. That’s why it’s important you be cautious what music you listen to, it’s affecting your flesh.

There is incredible power in the spoken word. God spoke and the universe was made. Jesus is called the word of God. And when Jesus speaks, everything changes.

Next, verse 8, the centurion shares this explanation with Jesus:

“For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

We come to the concept of authority. This man served as a Roman centurion, which meant he commanded about 100 soldiers. He understood authority.

And he explains it well, he as a centurion was under authority, the authority over the centurion was the Roman empire. Yet he also had about 100 men under his authority. And he was able to issue orders to them, and they would obey, because they trusted the authority of their commander.

The centurion understood that Jesus was one with authority and also under authority as well. God the Father was the authority over Jesus while he was on Earth. Wielding that authority in the Father’s will, Jesus was able to do amazing miracles. But the people receiving the miracle would exercise trust in Jesus, so that was a factor as well, faith.

Let’s relate this to ourselves. We are under the authority of God the Father through Jesus. But we also exercise authority, the authority given to us by Jesus. And when we pray in Jesus name, in God the Father’s will and purposes, amazing miracles and healings happen. Again, also contingent on our faith.

The centurion trusts Jesus’ authority completely. He says your kind of like me ordering my soldiers around, you are able to order sickness to be healed and it happens.

We can trust Jesus’ authority too. We can trust that we are able to carry His authority by speaking in the name of Jesus. And then amazing prayers are answered by God. And the whole world changes. Lives change. Miracles happen. People are healed. People get saved. All because we prayed in faith, in the name of Jesus, and in that authority, we called on heaven to change the world system to conform to God’s will. But understand that God chooses to work through people, so if we don’t pray and believe, nothing changes.

So we must pray with a bold confidence in our heart, that Jesus hears our prayer, is answering our prayer, and has indeed already given us what we’ve asked for.

Verse 9: "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

There are only two times in scripture where it says Jesus was amazed. One of them is when Jesus was amazed at the faith of the centurion here. And the other is when Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of those in his hometown.

I’m sure for all of us, there are times when Jesus looks at us and is amazed by our great faith, and there are other times when he looks at us and is amazed by our lack of faith.

The centurion had great faith, mighty faith, large faith. And this faith expressed itself in trust that Jesus could heal, even from a distance. And that’s just the kind of faith we need in prayer.

Verse 10: “Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”

The result of the faith of the centurion was that the servant who was near death was suddenly found to be well. Jesus healed Him. And we can say the same thing today, when God heals someone: Jesus did this.

Now it’s your turn. Believe in the one who has all authority. Walk by the leading of His Holy Spirit within you. Then you’ll receive an unction, a sense from the Lord, to pray for certain people, and then you’ll exercise your authority, by praying in Jesus name, and then you’ll do your part which is to believe Jesus has done it, and then, your prayer will be answered.

Think back to the opening illustration, the Moffats, they never gave up, even after years of seeing no results. It seemed so bleak, but then… everything changed. The real challenge is when we see that loved one who has absolutely no interest in faith in God. Or that friend who appears so sick. Or that situation that seems so unchanging. It seems so dry, so unthinkably hopeless, but can we in that dry moment see the future hope, that God is able to completely change everything? The pray of faith is a heroic act, in the face of the complete opposite of what we hope! In the face of that we dare to believe: 'God it’s already new. You’ve already moved. The whole world is changed.'

Pray with passion.

Pray with excitement.

Pray with boldness.

Pray by the Spirit.

Pray with faith.

Pray believing in Jesus’ authority.

Pray by the authority you have in Him.

And your prayers will change this world forever, by the prayer of faith.

Overcoming the Temptations of Satan

In 1992 in the Discipleship Journal, readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them:

Some listed pride, others laziness, others bitterness or lust.

Survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). But notice this, the most success respondents had in Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent). Others said avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent).

Notice that in this survey the most powerful way to overcome temptation was prayer. Today as we discuss resisting temptations, we come to a moment when Jesus was just beginning his ministry…

One day Jesus walked into the water of the Jordan river, where his cousin John had gathered with his followers. John was baptizing people in the Jordan river who desired to repent of their sins.

Jesus stepped into the water that day and approached John, and told him, you must baptize me.

John was stunned and looked at Jesus and said, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized by you.” But Jesus insisted that it would fulfill all righteousness.

And so John agreed. As John baptized him, Jesus was praying, and it says the heavens were opened. And the Holy Spirit descended like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, declaring, “this is my Son, with him I am well pleased.”

What a powerful moment! But immediately after these stunning events, Jesus would face one of the greatest challenges of his life… in the wilderness.

Have you ever been in the wilderness? A challenge comes forward. The unthinkable occurs in your life. You feel stuck. Things aren’t the way you want. You’re annoyed. Frustrated. And angry. You feel weak.

And then there it comes. A temptation, something you know is wrong, or at least you know isn’t quite right, and it begins to lure you.

Think of the fishermen, with the lure, the worm attached to the hook, dangling in the water. The enemy too bates his hook, with what he knows we are drawn to, and the temptation battle begins.

Will we bite down, or will we walk away? When we bite down, the hook is set, when we walk away, we may feel we missed something, but, what we protected ourselves from is far greater.

Jesus has experienced this kind of temptation too.

Open in your Bibles to Luke 4, starting in verse 1: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness...”

Jesus left the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit led him, where did the Spirit lead him?

Into the wilderness.

What is the wilderness? The Bible is replete with wilderness experiences. Job after the loss of his family and wealth, Jacob fleeing from his brother, Joseph sold by his brothers into slavery, Elijah fleeing from Jezebel, Moses in the desert, and the Israelites wandering in the wilderness.

Verse 2 says, “…where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.”

There are different types of wildernesses. This wilderness that Jesus enters is a wilderness of temptation. But, this temptation we discuss today is not just any temptation, it is one plotted and staged against us, by our enemy, the Satan.

And we will specifically discuss today, how to face these challenges by battling against the enemy in prayer. Your chief weapon against the enemy is prayer.

Jesus embraced this time of testing. In fact it says at the end of verse two Jesus fasted to face these moments.

Verse 2 says: “He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”

We’re going to talk about fasting more later in this series, but suffice to say, that when we’re facing a challenge in our lives, some unexpected problem, fasting and prayer is a key way to respond.

Notice this time of tempting would last forty days. There was a time frame. Always remember that, no temptation can last forever. The enemy is on a clock.

Who is this enemy we speak of? For that question we must go back to the beginning of history...

We understand that God made all things in the beginning. But we also understand that there is a problem in our reality, that problem is sin, and the fall. And we understand that part of that fall included the fall of the angels, servants of God who chose to disobey.

We know that according to the word of God, this world is under the control of the evil one. The new testament tells us that Satan and his demonic forces inhabit the kingdom of the air. And they engage in attempts to lead humans away from God, and influence human society to abandon God.

We know that God protects us by way of his angelic armies, angels that stayed loyal to God, and we know that we face attacks, deceptions, and temptation from demons, angels that joined the rebellion of lucifer against God.

Also, understand that demons are not free to do anything they want. They have to function within the rules of the system God has setup. If you remember when Satan wanted to test Job, he had to have God’s permission.

Satan is going to follow a playbook outlined in the word of God, from 1 John 2:16-17: "For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God abides forever".

Let’s take a look at how the devil begins to tempt Jesus.

Verse 3 says… The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

The enemy attacks with the lust of the flesh. He knows Jesus is hungry from fasting, so he tempts him to use his divine power in an inappropriate way.

We too face this temptation of the things we desire in our flesh.

We all have desires within us, for food, romance, safety and security, entertainment. But when we exercise these desires in unholy ways they can get out of whack.

We have an honest need for food, but, food can become an addiction, not because of the food itself, but because the desire within us has become distorted.

It’s the same with romance, we all have romantic desires and we fulfill them in marriage, but, through things like pornography, or engaging in multiple partners, or even things done to us, like sexual abuse, the desire can get our of control and become distorted.

The enemy will come into our lives from time to time, to tempt us to misuse the desires of our flesh. He tempts us by telling us, it’s no big deal, just once will be fine. But, it’s never just once. And when we begin down that path, it can become very addicting over time, until we have a desire within us that we can’t control.

This is most commonly illustrated I think in alcoholism. Slowly it goes from enjoying a few drinks, to increasing loss of control, to eventually I’m an alcoholic and I can’t stop. It’s deadly.

But it can be anything, it can be as simply as swearing, and now, we can’t seem to quite control our tongue, and those cusses keep flowing out.

Let’s see how Jesus responds to this temptation: (Verse 4) Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

I’m sure some of us here have secret desires that we can’t quite control. And it happened slowly over time without us realizing it. The world doesn’t tell us that such a thing is happening. They just encourage us to keep doing what feels good. That’s a deadly trap. And soon we find ourselves with desires we can't control.

But I can tell you this, God is able through Christ Jesus, to overcome and restore any desire in us that has gotten out of control.

If the enemy has corrupted our internal desires, and the good desires God gave us have grown out of control, prayer is the answer to our battle with the devil.

We come to the prayer of repentance. The Holy Spirit will guide the prayer. A prayer of repentance is a turning away from sin. Use that power phrase, "I repent Lord." Forgive me for this sin. Heal my flesh Lord. I submit to you God. Lord deliver me from this, in Jesus name, amen.

The prayer is the beginning, not the end. But, I’ve seen many people delivered, they pray, they repent. I was at a men's group, this guy was struggling with lust, and I led him in a prayer of repentance. Lord, I repent, I prayed with him, and he was delivered in that moment. He got up and hugged me. It was so exciting, he was in tears because something in him shifted during the prayer.

But what happens after is key. The temptation will come up again, but every time we say no, it builds our wall of resistance higher. Every time we say yes and fall to it, the wall comes crashing down, and we have to start over. That’s why the first few months of recovery are crucial for an alcoholic. If they can stay sober and build a few months of sobriety, particularly 1 year, suddenly, there is a far greater chance of long term success.

If you’re struggling with swearing, repent, and guard your lips, if you’re struggling with smoking, keep that door shut, pray everyday, and over the weeks, and months, and years, the victory will remain.

Next, the second temptation, verses 5-7: “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

The Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. The second lust before Jesus, is the lust of the eyes.

Satan is the god of this world, he has authority over the kingdoms. But we as Christians now have the new kingdom authority, and we are able to break the enemy’s power over regions, counties, cities, neighborhoods.

But Satan offers all this authority to Jesus, in exchange for worship.

How does this relate to us? We often desire the good things of this life. Nice cars, boats, fine jewelry, pleasant homes, property, anything we can see with our eyes. None of these things are wrong in themselves. They are to be received with gladness, says the Lord. But, we are to always keep God first, and keep our worship for God alone.

How does a desire of the eye become sin? When we want it more than we want God, or maybe better said, when it erodes our love for God, and becomes our idol.

Take the example of a young couple in love. The emotions are very powerful. But if they don’t keep their focus on God, the excitement of the romance can become the main thing in their lives. Many in our society worship romantic love like this, as the most important thing in the world. The romance desire over-rules the desire for God, and becomes an idol.

Let’s see how Jesus dealt with this temptation of the eyes.

Verse 8: Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13 “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only…”

How do we face the lust of the eyes?

We overcome these temptations through the prayer of worship. How does this work? Worship is all about reverence for the Lord. We love Him. We fear Him. We view Him as Holy. We bow down to Him.

When I’m tempted by something of the eyes, I pray and say, "Lord you’re so much more than this thing." When I see a beautiful home and I’m tempted to desire it, I pray, and say, "Lord thank you that my mansion in heaven is of much more value."

If you’ll turn to the Lord in that critical moment when you’re tempted by your eyes and turn your eyes to the Lord, you’ll overcome this temptation.

Lord, I worship you, Lord I praise you, you are higher, you are greater, you are more desirable than this thing in front of me. I love you. Lord I fear you, I regard you as Holy. You are first in my heart. Not this thing. Lord I repent of desiring this, I worship you, I love you. I tremble before you, Lord deliver me from this temptation, in Jesus name, amen.

A great tip with this one, is to turn on some worship music ,in your car, at home, on your phone, and just start singing, start worshiping God. And your heart will re-orient and remember, the lust of the eyes is nothing compared to my God!

Now we come to the third temptation: “9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.”

This is the pride of the life. The Son of God’s purpose was to offer his life on the cross as a ransom sacrifice for our sins. But Satan tempts Jesus to do it his own way.

Then Satan even quotes scripture in verse 10: 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

This is very clever. He tempts Jesus to prove to the crowds that he is the son of God by throwing himself down, forcing God to send angels to keep him from falling.

We all also face the temptation of the pride of life. We want to be in control of our lives. We want to rely on ourselves. We want to be the god of our own lives.

It’s a very American attitude. I’m going to gain the world. I’m going to show off my accomplishments. I’m going to be the best of the best. I’m going to pull myself up by my own bootstraps.

We also can be tempted to try to do the right thing at the wrong time. Or, to try to force God to give us what we desire. God if you don’t do this for me, you aren’t really God. Or God you let me down because you didn’t make this thing happen!

We are not God. We do not get to dictate to Him what happens in our lives. He is the King. We are the servant.

The pride of life moves in when we try to force our way, instead of allowing God to have the authority.

Let’s see how Jesus handles this temptation.

Verse 12 says: Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, “16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.”

And what happened at Massah? The Israelites were in the wilderness and didn’t have any water. So they demanded to Moses saying, “Is God really among us or not?”

How often we do the same thing, something bad or unexpected happens in our lives, and we come to that place we never wanted to be, of being tempted to angrily ask the question: "Where are you Lord!? Do what I want or else!"

That is pride. That is the pride of life. Thinking we know better than God, and angrily demanding God prove himself to us.

So how do we overcome the pride of life? The third prayer we want to utilize against our enemy today, is the prayer of humility. 

This prayer is all about submitting under the lordship of Jesus Christ. The pride of life says we can do it ourselves. The humility of faith says I need Jesus to be my king. This is really a prayer of submission to God. The pride of life says "It’s my life and I want it my way." But Jesus is our life. The pride of life is insidious, the most deceptive of the three. It slowly works it’s way in, and convinces us we can do life without God.

Fear, anger, annoyance, pride, self, all seem to mix in here, with this sense of "I want what I want." I’ve seen it in myself, I’m sure we all have, when we’re having a tough day and we’re annoyed and angry, and we start to throw a tantrum. And in the midst of that tantrum, pride demands God prove himself or else.

But instead, let us offer this prayer and counter the pride of life with the humility that Christ taught us.

Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves. We can’t do life without you. We give you control of our lives. We tried to control it ourselves, and it didn’t work. We surrender all to you. We give you the lordship of our lives. We declare, our life is in you Lord Jesus. Be our King forever. We reject the tyrannical reign of self. We trust you in the wilderness, in Jesus name, amen.

We get a detail in Matthew 4, which recounts this same encounter in the wilderness, in which at the end Jesus commands the devil: “Go away from me Satan!”

And then verse 13 in Luke says, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”

In conclusion today, I want to underline for all of us that Satan’s time is limited. He can only tempt us for so long. As the word of God tells us, 1st Cor 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

If you believe you are being tempted by the devil, I want you to “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Then pray out loud, and command the devil “in the name of Jesus Christ, go away from me!”

Notice it says Satan left until a more opportune time. I believe that moment was when Jesus was on the cross, and someone said, “If you are really the son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matthew 27:40).

When we’re in the wilderness, we all want the suffering to stop. But we must trust in the Lord. Remember the three prayers we talked about today...

The prayer of repentance, when we see in ourselves a disordered desire, we can pray and ask the Lord to forgive us, repent, and the desire in us shifts, giving us a road of repentance to travel down.

The prayer of worship we can utilize when we’re tempted by the beauty of the things of the world, we can immediately turn our eyes to God, and worship Him, and remind our soul that it’s all about Jesus, and He is greater than anything in this world. 

The prayer of humility helps us to reject the pride of life, humble ourselves, submit to God, surrender all to Him, and allow God to be the king of our lives. We let go of control, we set aside pride, and we allow fear, and annoyance and anger to die at the feet of Jesus. He is our life.

When you face the lust of the flesh, remember Jesus is the way. He will guide you through.

When you face the the lust of the eyes, remember Jesus is the truth. He will show you what life is really about.

When you face the pride of life, remember Jesus is the life. Real life is found in Him only. 

Bold and Persistent Prayers

Growing up did you ever read the book Owl Moon by Jane Yolen? It was my absolute favorite. I asked my mom to read it over and over when I was a kid. It tells the story of a little boy whose father takes him out into the woods to go owl watching. It always mystified me as a child. 

I loved it and I wanted my dad to take me out to do the same thing. And I kept pestering my parents, and finally one day, I think with my moms help, my dad took me out one night to try to spot owls. And as we walked around through the woods, we saw an owl. And I believe that was a gift from the Lord. But I was persistent. I kept after my parents over and over and over, until finally they agreed.

That’s what we’re talking about today, persistence, and in particular, persistence in prayer.

During Jesus’ life he often spoke in parables, a story that explains a deeper spiritual truth. I remember when I was minister in The Salvation Army we went through a series studying every parable Jesus ever taught, and wow, did it open up a deeper spiritual realm to me.

Today we’re going to look at two parables that Jesus taught, that both illustrate different factors about prayer.

We’ve begun a new series to start the year, Jennifer began us down that road talking about dangerous prayers, then last week, over the livestream we discussed the Lord’s prayer. Now today, we look at two heart positions we should take in prayer.

The best prayers are not from the mind, in fact most anything in our Christian faith is meant to affect mainly our hearts, not just our minds.

Do you allow the truths about God into your heart, to affect your emotions, your decisions, your deepest sense of self, or are you stuck analyzing them in your mind? Let the word of God into your heart. Let the sermon affect your heart. That is where lasting change occurs.

So it is also with prayer. The best prayers, the most powerful prayers are a heart cry, something that goes from the heart, out of the mouth and up to God.

Open in your Bibles to Luke 18, and we’ll be looking at verses 1-14.

The first thing to notice here, Luke, gives us the reason why Jesus told the parable.

Verse 1 says, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

So what’s the reason? That they should always pray, and never give up.

Who is Jesus speaking to? His disciples.

When should we pray? Always.

Should we ever give up on our hopes and dreams in prayer? Never.

That is an extreme word, always pray. Not often, non consistently, but always.

Your whole life, saints, can be a continuous prayer to God. Sometimes I’ll just think about someone, and long for them to be saved, I was thinking about Joe Rogan the other day, and I was just praying in my mind that God would save him. Then I was thinking about Christopher Nolan, the creator of Interstellar, Dunkirk, and the Batman remakes, longing for him to be saved, those thoughts can become prayers to God in our minds at any time.

Whenever you’re fretting about something on the news, something in politics, something with your family, even with your own mental health, turn it into a prayer request. I used to sit there and fret and worry; I’m a Christian, make it a prayer! Lay it before God. He will answer.

Second extreme word: Never give up. My grandma prayed for me for so many years, she almost gave up, when I got in trouble again in 2012, a friend of hers told me about it, then she got the news, a few months later, I’d gotten baptized.

Jesus is going to give us a parable to help us understand what this means in a deeper way.

Next, verses 2-3: He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

So we’ve got a judge, someone appointed to make decisions on legal cases. But this judge doesn’t fear God or care what people think. 

And we have a widow, someone who in this historical context would have no power, and very little standing in the community. Women, and particularly widows were powerless in ancient Israeli society.

We are like the widow, powerless in regard to our adversary, the evil one, left with only one option, to petition for help. The widow has direct access to the judge, just like we have direct access to God. The widow came boldly, we should do the same.

Notice the heart of the widow, she is persistent. She doesn’t care that she is perceived so lowly in this society. She is truly in a desperate situation, because normally a widow would not appear in court, she would have a male representative, either her father, her brother, her husband, or her son. The fact that shes appearing herself proves how desperate her situation is.

Yet despite all this, her desperate situation creates this boldness. “I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m going to keep coming to this judge over and over.”

Her heart is bold to come to the throne over and over. And this is beautiful to God. Boldness, whether it’s born from desperation, or sorrow, or whatever birthed it, it’s result is beautiful, we’re told in scripture to come boldly to the throne of grace, just like the widow.

Next, verses 4-5: 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

The judge refuses at first. But finally, he gives up, and gives the widow justice against her enemy. He fears the widow will ruin his reputation, most likely.

What does this mean for us? Is God unjust? Does he not care? Is that why we have to pray so often? Of course not.

For things on Earth there is often a time delay, because God works within the system he created, free will. If you pray for someone to be saved, God isn’t going to snap his fingers and make them saved, he’s going to bring about experiences in their lives, people they meet, that will slowly lead them toward Jesus. Things on Earth take time. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes God does answer instantly, in certain situations it is possible. Sometimes when we pray for someone to be healed, they are suddenly healed, the cancer is gone, other times it doesn’t happen that way.

If we are persistent in our heart, not giving up, not becoming weary, we will receive an answer from the Lord.

It is easy, if we’re not careful, to become weary with praying. We pray for a few years, and nothing seems to happen, so we start thinking prayer doesn’t work, but it’s not true.

Guard your heart brothers and sisters, don’t give up on prayer, be like that persistent widow, coming again and again to the throne of God, petitioning. Trust God’s timing, not your own.

And yes, even trust if God doesn’t provide the answer you desire.

Next,6-7: 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

Jesus says listen to the words of the unjust judge. The judge is worried about his reputation. For the Lord God almighty, he is longing to show His glory (His reputation) to a lost world through the answers he provides to your prayers.

Jesus reminds the disciples: God will bring justice for his chosen ones! If they cry out, day and night, if they are persistent even when life seems crazy, and grace is needed. He will not put them off as the unjust judge did. He will answer.

What do you do when you’re down? It was the 2017 Superbowl, and the Patriots were playing the Falcons. At the end of the 3rd quarter the Patriots were down 28-3. I watched an interview with Tom Brady their quarterback, and he had to make a decision, am I going to give up, or am I going to go to the end? He chose to give it his all. And they came back, 28-9, 28-12, 28-20, and they won that game 34-28.

The persistent widow never gave up. She didn’t just sit at home and say well it’s over. Her heart I’m sure was overwhelmed, depressed, miserable, bitter, wanting to give up, but birthed from that came a holy boldness, I’m going to strike out, no matter the cost, I’m going to keep going, and never give up.

There’s a scene in the Fellowship of the Ring, LOTR reference here, where Frodo is going to have to leave with the ring, Aragorn says goodbye to him, and turns, and finds he’s surrounded by enemy troops, orcs all around him, and what does he do? He launches off right into the midst of them, and starts swinging, fighting with all his might.

It’s like that for the body of Christ, when we’re in retreat the enemy takes us out, shoots arrows at us, hits us in the back, and we fall. But when we’re marching forward, it doesn’t matter how few of us there are, God gives us the victory! Choose boldness!

In these last days in which we live, we’re going to see darkness get darker, we’re going to see chaos and confusion, we’re going to see growing evil, but we must refuse that internal desire to flee, instead, like Aragorn, like Tom Brady, like the persistent widow, we must march out into the battle spiritually, and overcome the enemy, by refusing to run, but striking out with righteous abandon.

A bold heart is what we need, that sees chaos all around us, and says, you know what, every time the enemy hits me with something, I’m going to pray even harder. I’m going to dig in even deeper in prayer.

Then your deeds will be remembered for all eternity in the halls of paradise, in remembrance of the dark days in which we persevered, and the glory that God showed through us.

The enemy wants to try to create circumstances in our lives to poke our weak spots, so that we give up. But the best way to respond to those enemy attacks, is to strike out even harder, pray even harder, read the word even more, witness to even more people, and eventually the enemy will realize, this isn’t getting me anywhere. They just keep serving God and praying even harder.

Jesus next makes a fascinating declaration:

8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

God will see we get justice and quickly. Often it won’t take as long as we thought. But then he asks:

“Will I find faith on the Earth when I return?” Jesus knew that as we approached the end times, things on Earth would get harder and harder. He warned that the love of many would grow cold.

I think we get a key to surviving through the perilous times in which we live, Jesus I think is telling us, if we want to continue in the faith to the end, through tough times, we should utilize this form of bold and persistent prayer to God, over and over, until we receive the answer.

Persistent prayer is like a road we travel down, continuing on and on along the years of our lives, never giving up, always praying about all things, and enjoying the answers to those prayers.

It’s just the same in our faith walk overall.

Persistent faith is also like a road we travel down. And by the spiritual choices we make, we walk down it. We must persist to the end to receive the prize, which is the salvation of our souls.

The second parable is called “The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.” We’re not going to spend too much time on it, but I felt it tied beautifully in with our theme today.

It says this: (verse 9) "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable."

Jesus addresses some of us who have been believers many years, who may feel tempted to think we’ve got this thing down. We know what we’re doing. We’ve got it figured out. And he’s going to challenge us to change our thinking.

We all battle pride from time to time, particularly as Americans, we have so much material abundance and frankly we Americans tend to be know it alls, we think we’re right and we’ll explain to you why if you want to know.

Next verses 10-11: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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.”

Two men: One, a Pharisee, a religious leader of that time, thought of as holy, righteous good, and true. Second, a tax collector, working with the Romans, taking money from the poorest people, often collecting more than was owed to enrich themselves. Hated, and considered a terrible sinner.

The Pharisee prays and compares himself in the prayer to other people he thinks of as less than himself.

Verse 12 says, “I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’”

He cites all the things he does for God, he fasts weekly and tithes as well.

What is the attitude of his heart? He thinks of himself as better than others. His focus is on himself. His heart is looking not up at God, necessarily, but at himself, his life, the things he does. He is so focused on himself, and how good he is, God is an after-thought. It’s really all about Him. That is a heart of pride, constantly looking at ourselves.

In prayer, the focus really can’t be ourselves and our own needs. That may be surprising. But I think we often view prayer as, God needs to come in and fulfill my checklist. But that is not the purpose of prayer at all.

The goal in prayer is not just to make endless requests to God on different topics, the goal in prayer is, through intimacy we discover the will of God. Our mind is then filled with a checklist quite different from our own, it is the agenda of God. And we begin to instinctively know it as we spend times in deep prayer and study of His word.

The Pharisee was so focused on himself, he missed the agenda of God. Sometimes we do the same thing.

Begin to change how you pray, instead of always going to that list of things you want, begin to keep it open ended: Lord, what do you want me to pray about? Holy Spirit prompt me. Pretty soon, God will bring to mind an old friend, pray. God will bring to mind the riots in Minneapolis, pray. He’ll bring to mind victims of domestic violence in Traverse City, pray. He’ll bring to mind a sin in your life, pray. And now, we’ve found the heart of true prayer, where the focus in on God’s purposes, not just our own. But trust me, God also cares about our desires too. It just needs to be second to His.

The Pharisee missed the heart of God, what about the tax collector?

Verse 13: “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.’

The tax collector just like the widow was bold, even though the tax collector was hated, he was willing to come to the throne of grace. Many stay away when they’re in sin, fearing they’ll burst into flames if they walk into church, but the tax collector understands the heart of God, he knows he can come boldly and request mercy.

He was repentant, beating his breast for the things he’d done. His prayer was simple, God have mercy on me! And he receives it. This is exactly how we need to pray for our family, our friends, our neighbors, our enemies, and everyone in this world.

Lord, have mercy on them! They’re a sinner, we know that, but God you are so full of mercy on sinners, lead them to your son Jesus Christ, lead them into your loving arms God. Knowing you is the most amazing thing that has ever happened in our lives, we want that for them too, please God, not because of anything they did, but because of your own mercy, please save them, in Jesus name, amen.

“Lord, have mercy.” I encourage you in your prayers always return to that simple praise. This type of prayer greatly pleases God, it’s humble, and it appeals to His own infinite grace and mercy. It’s the only standing we have to hope in, that God grants mercy to lost sinners.

Lastly, verse 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.”

Notice the heart of the tax collector, it’s a heart boldly coming to God, meek, in submission, yielded, lowly. It’s all about the heart. Submit to him. Surrender all. This is a humble heart position.

Let’s tie it all together today.

Prayer is most powerful when it comes from the heart, not only the mind. Remember the persistence of the widow, who never gave up, and resisted the desire to become weary. The powerlessness of the widow actually caused her to come even more boldly. She knew, my only hope is God!

God is building within each of us a heart of determination, a heart that keeps praying no matter what, a heart that looks to Him for His agenda not our own, and a heart that surrenders all, humbly yielded to the Lord almighty, seeking His mercy and forgiveness for lost people. 

Always pray, never give up, stay humble, and your heart will grow to be like the heart of Jesus.