Learning To Pray With A Humble Heart
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Luke 18:1-14
The very first verse gives the Lord’s purpose before He gives the parable.
Jesus is teaching His people to keep praying when the heart is tempted to give up.
Then verse 9 says, “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”
So these two parables belong together.
The first corrects the discouraged heart.
The second corrects the proud heart.
One person quits praying because he wonders if God cares.
Another person keeps the form of prayer while being impressed with himself.
Jesus corrects both.
He shows us that God isn’t indifferent to His people.
He also shows us that sinners don’t come to God by their own righteousness.
In Luke 17, Jesus had spoken about the coming kingdom and the day when the Son of man would be revealed.
He warned that the days before judgment would be like the days of Noah and Lot.
People would be busy with ordinary life and spiritually unprepared.
Jesus points them to prayer.
Tonight, as we follow His steps, we see the Lord calling us to persistent faith and humble dependence.
I. Keep Praying When Your Heart Is Weary
I. Keep Praying When Your Heart Is Weary
Before Jesus gives the picture of a needy widow and a cold judge, He gives the lesson that controls the whole parable.
A. Prayer Is Necessary Dependence
A. Prayer Is Necessary Dependence
Luke 18:1 says, “…men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
Prayer isn’t a religious hobby for emotional Christians.
It isn’t merely the last resort after we’ve tried everything else.
Jesus says men ought always to pray.
Prayer is a duty, but it’s also a gracious invitation.
God doesn’t command us to do something empty.
He invites us to bring our weakness to His strength.
It means the heart keeps turning toward God.
It means we don’t carry life as though everything depends on us.
A mother can pray while folding laundry.
A father can pray while driving to work.
A young person can pray when temptation rises.
Prayer is the breath of dependence.
Jesus said in John 15:5
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
That isn’t an exaggeration.
We can plan, work, teach, sing, organize, and serve, but without Him there won’t be lasting spiritual fruit.
When prayer becomes small, burdens become heavy.
The Lord knows delayed answers can wear down the soul.
So He lovingly says, “Keep praying.”
After showing us that prayer is not optional, Jesus gives us a story that helps us understand why delay shouldn’t drive us away from God.
B. Delay Tests The Heart
B. Delay Tests The Heart
Luke 18:2-3 says, “There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.”
Jesus gives us a widow with a real need.
In that day, a widow could be especially vulnerable.
So she came to the judge and asked him to make the matter right.
But the judge was a hard man.
He didn’t fear God.
He didn’t regard man.
Luke 18:4 says, “And he would not for a while.”
Those words are simple, but they carry weight.
She came, but the answer didn’t come.
She had a real need, but the one who could act refused to act.
We know something of that burden.
We pray for a family member, and the heart still seems hard.
We pray over a burden, and the burden is still there.
Delayed answers test the heart.
They reveal whether we’ll keep trusting when we have to wait.
14 Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord.
Waiting on the Lord doesn’t mean doing nothing.
A child in the back seat may not understand the route his father is taking.
He may think the trip is too long.
But the father knows the road and the destination.
Our heavenly Father knows infinitely more.
He knows exactly what He’s doing.
Once Jesus shows the pressure of delay, He shows the kind of faith that keeps coming anyway.
C. Persistence Reveals Faith
C. Persistence Reveals Faith
Luke 18:4-5 says, “And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”
The widow didn’t have much power.
But she kept coming.
Her persistence didn’t come from pride.
It came from need.
She knew she had nowhere else to go.
There’s something spiritually healthy about realizing we have nowhere else to go but God.
Peter said in John 6:68
68 …Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Faith doesn’t always understand the delay.
Faith doesn’t always feel strong.
But faith keeps coming.
Faith says, “Lord, I still believe You’re good.”
Faith says, “Lord, I still believe You can answer.”
Repeated prayer isn’t automatically vain repetition.
Jesus warned in Matthew 6:7
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Vain repetition is empty religious wording.
Persistent prayer is the honest cry of a dependent child.
A church can pray persistently for revival.
God isn’t bothered by the sincere prayers of His children.
He invites them.
Now Jesus turns our attention from the widow’s persistence to the character of the God who hears.
II. Trust The God Who Hears His Own
II. Trust The God Who Hears His Own
Jesus doesn’t give this parable so we’ll think God is like the unjust judge.
He gives it so we’ll understand that God is wonderfully unlike him.
A. God Is Not Reluctant To Do Right
A. God Is Not Reluctant To Do Right
Luke 18:6 says, “And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.”
He acts because her continual coming troubles him.
Then Jesus gives the contrast in verse 7.
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
The point is not that God is an irritated judge who must be worn down by our prayers.
The point is that if even an unjust judge can be moved to act, surely the righteous God will do right for His own.
God is not unjust.
God is not cold.
God doesn’t have to be pressured into righteousness.
He is the holy and loving Father of His people.
Abraham asked in Genesis 18:25
25b …Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
The answer is yes.
The Judge of all the earth will do right.
That truth steadies the soul.
We see wrongs that haven’t been corrected.
We see lies that seem to prosper.
We see believers suffer.
We see prayers that haven’t yet been answered.
But none of that means God has forgotten His people.
The timing may confuse us, but the character of God is never uncertain.
God’s delays are not denials of His goodness.
He will do right.
After reminding us that God is righteous, Jesus reminds us that His people are personally dear to Him.
B. God Cares For His Own
B. God Cares For His Own
Luke 18:7 speaks of “his own elect, which cry day and night unto him.”
God’s people are not strangers outside the courthouse hoping for a little attention.
They are His own.
They are heard by their Father.
That should change the way we pray.
We’re not trying to convince a reluctant God to care.
We’re coming to the Father who already cares.
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
It says, “he careth for you.”
There are times when a believer feels forgotten.
There are times when the enemy whispers, “God doesn’t care about this.”
But the Word of God answers that whisper.
He cares when the prayer is spoken through tears.
A good earthly father may not give his child everything the child asks for, but he doesn’t ignore the child.
But a loving father hears the cry of his child.
How much more does our heavenly Father hear His own?
So when we don’t understand His hand, we can still trust His heart.
Then the Lord lifts our eyes beyond the present delay to the certainty of God’s final answer.
C. God Will Answer In His Time
C. God Will Answer In His Time
Luke 18:8 says, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.”
It doesn’t mean God always acts as quickly as we want.
It means that when God’s time comes, His action will be sure, decisive, and right.
God may bear long, but He won’t be late.
He may wait, but He won’t forget.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The Lord is not careless.
He is not running behind.
What looks slow to us may be mercy.
What feels delayed to us may be wisdom.
Then Jesus asks a searching question.
Verse 8 continues, “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”
The issue is not whether God will be faithful.
He will be faithful.
The issue is whether we’ll keep believing.
When Christ comes, will He find us praying?
Will He find us trusting?
A church doesn’t stay spiritually alive by programs alone.
A believer doesn’t stay steady by personality alone.
We need faith that keeps praying.
But the Lord knows there’s another danger for religious people, because it’s possible to keep praying outwardly while our hearts are full of pride.
III. Come Humbly To The God Of Mercy
III. Come Humbly To The God Of Mercy
Jesus now turns from the danger of fainting to the danger of self-righteousness.
A. Self-Righteousness Trusts In Personal Goodness
A. Self-Righteousness Trusts In Personal Goodness
Luke 18:9 says, “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”
This verse tells us exactly who needed the second parable.
That view of themselves affected the way they viewed others.
They despised others.
That always happens with self-righteousness.
When a man is impressed with himself, he tends to look down on people who don’t meet his standard.
Luke 18:10 continues, “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.”
Both men went to the right place.
Both men appeared to be praying.
But their hearts were completely different.
He was religious, disciplined, and outwardly separated.
If you judged only by reputation, you might assume the Pharisee was nearest to God.
But Jesus shows us that God doesn’t measure the way man measures.
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.
That should humble us.
It’s possible to look clean on the outside and be proud on the inside.
It’s possible to know religious words and still not be right with God.
It’s possible to be faithful to church and still trust your faithfulness instead of God’s mercy.
Self-righteousness is dangerous because it can hide in religious clothing.
But underneath, self-righteousness says, “God should be impressed with me.”
That spirit cannot stand before a holy God.
The Pharisee’s prayer now reveals what was already in his heart.
B. Pride Turns Prayer Into Boasting
B. Pride Turns Prayer Into Boasting
Luke 18:11 says, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are.”
Those words are piercing.
Jesus says he “prayed thus with himself.”
He used God’s name, but the prayer was centered on himself.
He said, “God, I thank thee,” but what followed was not true thanksgiving.
The publican continues about these other men calling them, “extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.”
There’s only pride dressed in religious speech.
That can happen more easily than we want to admit.
We may not say the Pharisee’s words out loud, but our hearts can drift the same direction.
We can think, “At least I’m not like them.”
“At least I’ve been more faithful than that person.”
But comparison is a dangerous way to measure spiritual health.
The issue is not whether I can find someone who looks worse than I do.
The issue is whether I am right before God.
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
That verse levels the ground.
The moral sinner and the religious sinner both come short.
The publican and the Pharisee both need mercy.
A humble church won’t excuse sin, but it won’t despise sinners either.
The Pharisee continues, and his religious record shows how even good things become dangerous when we trust them.
C. Mercy Is The Only Hope
C. Mercy Is The Only Hope
In verse 12 the pharisee says, “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
Fasting can be good when it’s done with a right heart.
The problem is not that he fasted and gave.
The problem is that he treated those things as evidence that he was righteous before God.
He brought his record instead of asking for mercy.
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
That verse is wonderfully clear.
Salvation is not by works of righteousness which we have done.
It is according to His mercy.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
If salvation were by works, heaven would be full of boasting.
But heaven will be full of redeemed sinners praising the Lamb.
Then Jesus shows us the publican.
Verse 13 says, “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven.”
He doesn’t come with confidence in himself.
He knows he has sinned.
He knows he has no righteousness to parade before God.
But he still comes.
His guilt doesn’t keep him away.
He comes to the only One who can show mercy.
Conviction is meant to bring us to God.
Then he prays, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
That is one of the simplest prayers in the Bible, but it’s full of truth.
He knows the One he has offended is the only One who can forgive.
He isn’t asking for wages.
He isn’t asking for justice on the basis of his goodness.
He is asking for mercy.
He isn’t talking about sinners in general.
He doesn’t soften it.
He doesn’t excuse it.
That is the honest place where mercy is found.
13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Confessing sin brings us to the mercy of God.
Mercy is not God ignoring sin.
Mercy is God providing a Saviour.
Christ died in the sinner’s place.
He shed His blood.
He rose again.
Now mercy is offered freely through Him.
That means no sinner is too sinful to come.
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.”
The publican went home justified.
The Pharisee did not.
Because one came trusting himself, and the other came pleading for mercy.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
That is the hope of the gospel.
Christ took our sin.
We receive His righteousness by faith.
Jesus ends with this principle.
“For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
This matters for salvation.
No one gets saved until he stops trusting himself.
No one prays rightly while trying to impress God.
A proud church becomes harsh, critical, and cold.
A humble church becomes grateful, patient, truthful, and merciful.
Conclusion
Conclusion
These two parables speak to us with one clear call.
Don’t faint.
Don’t boast.
Keep praying.
Stay humble.
Trust the God who hears.
Plead for the mercy only He can give.
Some here tonight may be carrying prayers that haven’t yet been answered.
You’ve prayed for a child who has gone astray.
You’ve prayed for a burden.
You’ve prayed for God to work in a situation that still seems unchanged.
Don’t faint.
Keep coming.
Your Father hears.
He may bear long, but He won’t do wrong.
Some here tonight may need to confess that prayer has become too small.
You’ve been carrying burdens more than casting them.
The Lord is inviting you back to dependence.
Some here tonight may need to let the second parable search your heart.
It’s easy to become the Pharisee without noticing it.
It’s easy to stand for truth and lose tenderness.
Ask the Lord to keep you humble.
And if there is someone here who has never been saved, this passage shows you how to come.
Don’t come resting in church attendance, baptism, giving, family background, or a clean reputation.
Come as a sinner.
Come to Christ.
Come believing that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again.
The publican prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Jesus said that man went down to his house justified.
That is grace.
For the believer, let’s leave tonight encouraged to pray again.
Let’s bring the burden again.
Let’s confess sin again.
Let’s humble ourselves again.
The God we come to is not an unjust judge.
He is our righteous Father.
The righteousness we need is not our own.
It is found in Jesus Christ.
So don’t faint in prayer.
Don’t boast in yourself.
Come to God with persistent faith and humble dependence.
And may the Son of man find faith in us when He comes.
