This is my second installment of four on this study of earnest prayer—which are excerpts from my book Principles of Prayer.
Eklenesteron. This word has basically the same meaning as ektenos, except with this word the intensity of earnestness is greater. The word appears in the New Testament only in Luke 22:44, where it describes the way Jesus prayed just before His trial and crucifixion: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Here it seems that the reason why He prayed so earnestly was because He was so grieved and distressed over the thought of His crucifixion—where he would suffer and pay a horrible penalty for the sin of the whole world. But take note that His prayers were not weak as to feel sorry for Himself. No, His prayers were strong. As…
This is our twenty-sixth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Luke 11:53-12:3
53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.
12 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
Observations
In verse 53 and 54, the reason why the Pharisees were so angry at Jesus is because of Jesus’ earlier rebuke of them—His “woes” on them. And so, they were plotting against Him to catch Him off guard. But Jesus, being always on guard, was more concerned with His disciples that they be on their guard against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He knew that they were always hiding something, they were always not being truthful. And so, He told them that in the judgment everything will come out, all that is hidden will be made known.
Application
We are always to be on our guard against unbelievers like the Pharisees. People like them are always hiding something; they are always whispering something. They are not to be trusted. But in the end, everyone will find out the truth. No one will get away with anything.
This is our twenty-fifth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Luke 11:37-44
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.”
Observations
The Pharisee noticed right away that Jesus did not wash his hand before meal time. Yes, growing up we all were taught that we should wash our hands. But that is not as important as having a clean heart and mind. And tithing is also important, but not as important as loving God. And the way people see us and respect us is also important, but the way God sees us is most important. And it should be important to us to always be cleansed of sin and to have a right relationship with Him.
Application
Beware of people who are like Pharisees, who always look to impress others, but care not what God thinks. They care about how they look on the outside, but inside they are dead, dead to God.
This is our twenty-fourth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Luke 7:36-47
36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is — that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Observations
I will give my observations of the Pharisee first: he judged Jesus wrong in thinking that He did not know the woman; He knew all about her. He also was terribly wrong in believing that God required him to separate himself from this kind of a woman—from sinners. God wants us to befriend sinners in order to help them. But this Simon thought that it was better for him to distance himself from sinners only in order that he would appear to people to be more righteous.
Jesus knew the woman and he knew this Pharisee. He made it clear that Simon was not a good or a righteous man. And the woman, even being a prostitute, had been changed by God and was repentant.
Application
Jesus welcomes all sinners to come to Him. And we also should befriend sinners in order to help them come to Jesus. Let us always beware of those who are self-righteous. They are dangerous.
Desire is the beginning and the basis of prayer. We cannot pray at all without desire. Now if you want to really deepen your prayer life, you must deepen your desire in prayer. Here are five ways to do it.
1. Pray for desire. Since prayers are somewhat meaningless without desire, if you have just a little desire, I think it would be wise to focus that desire in praying for more desire. While you are praying you may discover that your lack of desire is even worse than you thought—because you may not feel much like praying at all, for anything! If that’s the case, it may be that God is already at work in you to answer your prayer. He is creating in you what is necessary to have desire—recognition of your need, which is your first step to achieve it.
This is our twenty-third study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Luke 7:28-35
28 “I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 And when all the people and the tax-gatherers heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. 31 “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32 “They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another; and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ 33 “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!’ 35 “Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
Observations
Jesus here observed the Pharisees’ childish behavior. They rebuked His behavior of eating and drinking with sinners in order to befriend them. But they also rejected John’s more rigid behavior of abstinence, a behavior that they said Jesus should have. This reveals that they were rejecting anyone who was a true believer in God. They were revealing their pagan nature.
Application
We should be able to judge whether a person is a true Christian or not by their attitude toward good Christians. A pagan, like the Pharisees will always have a negative attitude toward any true Christian; they will always find something wrong with them.
This is our twenty-second study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Luke 5:17-26
17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . .” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Observations
It is very interesting that so many Pharisees came to hear his teaching. Why did they come? Did they really want to hear his teaching, or to catch Him in a sin? When Jesus said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven, they immediately thought that they had caught Him at blasphemy. But Jesus confirmed His qualifications to them by also healing the man.
Application
You should never absolutely trust someone’s loyalty, just because they come to hear you like the Pharisees did to Jesus. Those who are loyal to Jesus and truly believe in Him will humble themselves and be converted. Jesus was always suspicious of the Pharisees, yet He never gave up on them—and a few were saved.
This is our twenty-first study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Matthew 27:62-64
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
Observations
The Pharisees called Jesus “that deceiver”. They regarded Him as an evil deceiver—like the antichrist will be. They had it all backwards. They were calling what is good evil and what is evil good. And they asked Pilot to place guards around the tomb. I wonder if they really thought that He would not be raised and that Jesus’ followers would steal him away. Or if they were trying to prevent Jesus from escaping in case He was resurrected. Either way, they were trying to protect themselves, to keep their right standing intact. They didn’t want to be thought of as liars or false teachers.
Application
Beware of false teachers like the Pharisees. They will be whatever it takes to keep their reputation intact.
This is our twentieth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.
Matthew 23:29-31
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Observations
By decorating the graves of the prophets, that indicates to me that they were trying to put on a show of self-righteousness, and even trying to cover up their own sins. And when they said, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets,’ they were not being honest. John MacArthur has stated, “[This was] a ridiculous claim to self-righteousness when they were already plotting the murder of the Messiah (cf. Jn. 11:47-53).”
Application
It is better to face up to the sins of your descendance and not try to say that you would have lived better. I think we should instead be like Daniel who confessed before God the sins of his people (Dan 9:5-6)—even though he himself was innocent.
According to Tozer, “… Before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man.” God’s work of enlightenment within us, therefore, is the secret cause of all our desiring and seeking and praying. Tozer says, “We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit.”2
From the beginning of time God has been seeking men and women who have a heart like His so that they would desire Him and do his will (1 Sam. 13:14, Acts 13:22, Isa. 65:2). There is, however, only one way that anyone can truly desire Him with a pure heart: it is by accepting God’s Son and resting in Him, thus by allowing Him to transform them and renew their heart and mind (Romans 12:2).
Now the way it works, the way God makes us desire Him is through…
