May the Lord’s grace and peace be with you all. How has your week been? How has your prayer life been?
This past Sunday, we started our two-part section on prayer in this “Worship and Prayer” series. We saw what praying in humility looks like: 1) Humility prays persistently 2) Humility prays reliantly
We pray persistently, knowing that we don’t bring anything to the table. We surrender ourselves to the mercies of the One who can give justice. At the same time, we pray persistently not because He does not listen to us, but because He does. We trust that our Father will work all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
We pray reliantly, knowing that we are sinners before a holy God. We do not pray, arrogantly consumed by ourselves and our glory. We pray relying upon the only hope for the world: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Through Him, we can pray “God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” because we know that Christ is the answer to that prayer. We can go to God with our needs and our hearts persistently without receiving the wrath we deserve, because He received it on our behalf on the cross. He received the justice due for our sin, so that we may receive the justice due for His obedience: communion with Him.
Now, in Christ, we are able to pray to Him. We are able to pray persistently. We are able to pray reliantly. We are able to pray humbly because of our Humble Savior.
This week, I hope you can take some time to pray. Lift up your needs, desires, and hearts up to the Lord. If you don’t have the words to pray, just pray the simple line of the tax collector: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Lay your hearts at His feet, and receive His grace.
If you are able, come out to Friday Night Study @7:30pm this week! If not, see you for Lord’s Day Worship.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
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