Luke 11

Posted on Feb 8, 2016 in Reading Through the New Testament |

People are divided on the subject of knowing how to pray.   Some recommend using a pattern (such as ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) and others say to pray whatever comes into your mind.   I suppose that a balance of both ways is the best idea. 

  I don’t want my prayer life to be only a long list of things that I am asking for, and a formula that forces me to spend time telling God how much I adore Him could be a good thing.  On the other hand, I don’t want to reduce my time of prayer to a “checklist” either.   In this passage I don’t think Jesus is giving the disciples a formula that they need to use every time they pray.  Instead He is showing them the sort of things they need to be praying about.   We should revere the name of the Lord, we should ask for daily help and protection, etc.   Rather than simply repeating the words, we should be echoing the sentiment in our extemporaneous prayers.

There are two things that really grab me today:  First, the idea that someone could be so disconnected from God that they accuse God of operating under the power of the devil.   I suppose that sort of thing stills goes on today.   You can get some pretty intense emotional responses when you begin talking about what the Bible says about alternative lifestyles, addictions or abortion.   People will accuse you of being evil…when you are actually good.

The second thing is the forceful way that Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and the legal experts.  He really is coming down hard on them.  He was invited to their house for dinner, but that gesture doesn’t seem to have affected His delivery at all.   If I were a Pharisee, I would be squirming and probably pretty angry.  I suspect that I would have felt insulted, and my pride would be hurt.    Here’s the thing:  Jesus isn’t holding back to protect their feelings.   It isn’t because He doesn’t love them, it’s because they have been running roughshod over the people they were meant to take care of for generations.  They have been prideful, arrogant and entitled, and now the Master is back to take them to task.   The right thing to do would be to cry out in shame and repentance and ask for forgiveness.   But their hearts are so hardened that they don’t even feel shame….only anger.

The Bible tells us that one day each of us will stand in front of God himself to hear His judgment on what we have done with our lives.   If we have been prideful and arrogant, we can expect to be cast into hell.    Even though God loves us all, there is no indication in the Scripture that He is going to

“cut everyone a break” on judgment day.   Just like He chewed out the Pharisees, He will take everyone to task that hasn’t obeyed Him.

Thinking of that, we should be thankful when God rebukes us now, while we still have time to repent and get right with Him.  No one wants to hear God say that He isn’t pleased with what we are doing.   But better to be humbled here and exalted on Judgment Day, instead of vice versa.

Thankful for even the hard messages from Jesus,

PR

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