The Penitent Prayer

There is no doubt to any of use that we are living in troubling times.

With everything that is going on in the world around us and in our own personal lives one must wonder, Does God even care? Can we trust God in a hurting world?

Many of us have turned toward prayer, crying out to God to intervene in our troubles and hardships.

Yet again one must ask

Does God hear my prayers?

God hears everything, including prayers. He is God. Nothing gets by Him (Psalm 139:1–4).

Psalm 139:1–4 NKJV

1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

He is sovereign over everything He created (Isaiah 46:9–11). So the question is not whether God is aware of every prayer (He is), but whether

Is God is tuning in to our prayers with an intent to answer them?

The Biblical truth is God wants us to pray. He has created prayer as a means by which we can enjoy a personal and intimate relationship with Him (Revelation 3:20), confess our sin (1 John 1:9), ask Him to meet our needs (Psalm 50:15), and align our wills with His (Jeremiah 29:11–12; Luke 22:42).

However, if we are approaching God on our terms and not His we may find that God leans a def ear on our prayer requests.

Isaiah 59:2 NKJV

2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

So what kind of prayer will God hear? Glad you asked that question because one kind of prayer is guaranteed to be granted. And this is the prayer I want to talk about this morning…It is “The Penitent Prayer”

We are going to be in Luke 18:9-14 and Ps. 51 this morning as we explore what the penitent prayer looks like.

Luke 18:13–14 describes the prayer of repentance, as well as Ps. 51. So take your copy of Gods word and turn to those passages.

Luke 18:9–12 NKJV

9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’

When we are choosing to hold on to sin, rather than repent and change, God will not hear our prayers. In Isaiah 1:15, the Lord says, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!”

Proverbs 28:9 says, “If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.”

Luke 18:13–14 NKJV

13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 18

His location, posture, and speech reveal his humility and recognition of his sinfulness—a stunning contrast to the self-righteous Pharisee

Our country has committed some of the more horrific sins, which is not surprising, for the Bible does say ALL have SINNED…but makes it worse is that most have gone unrepentant and in some cases the sin is glorified and glamorized. Sin against a holy God is no big deal in our culture.

And yet people feel that they are self righteous because they havent done anything to bad, or at least according to their own standards of living. Yet the trouble with that train of thought that we are not to go by our standard of living but God’s standards… and His standard is Holiness.

So with the mindset of a self righteous individuals who probably still think they can come before God with sinful hands and hearts and make generalized requests think that God is going to bless them, and give them everything they ask for. NO, what God desires is for a person to have a broken, repentant heart, a heart that is turned toward God and way from their sinful ways.

(((Tell the story of David and his fall into sin)))

Psalm 51:1–17 NKJV

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. 16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

Prophet Nathan 2 Sam. 12