Check Your Heart

Luke 18 looks at the condition of the heart as we prepare for the Kingdom, with our willingness to persist in prayer, our understanding of our spiritual condition, and our humility (or lack thereof).

Do we have faith to be persistent in prayer?  Jesus speaks of a willingness to never give up, and this is a challenge, at least for me.  Having had long-term prayer requests that seem to meet with no (or not yet), it can be hard to persist in prayer.  Yet He calls us to be persistent, trusting that He who is faithful and good will be faithful in the end.

And where are we at in comparison to Him, not compared to others?  Are we like the Pharisee, who sees how good he is compared to other people (especially the sinners), or do we compare ourselves to God, seeing ourselves more as the tax collector, who recognizes his unworthiness and comes before God in that place.  Help us to be humble, recognizing that our worth is found in You.  

Help us to have faith and humility like a child, and may we not come to you like the rich ruler, desiring to justify ourselves before you and unwilling to sacrifice our treasures for you.  

And we thank You that we don’t have to rely on ourselves to get to heaven (because we can’t).  Help us to see where we are at, and help us to see You clearly, so that, like the blind beggar at the end of the chapter, we might follow You, praising God for all He has done!