Wednesday 30 March; Day 206
Consider
In chapter 18, we see three examples of Luke’s emphasis on prayer:
· In the opening verses “a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men,” finally gives into a widow who keeps coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” The judge worn down by her persistence grudgingly grants her request – so how much more will God hear the cry of his people when they pray.
· The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple describes the upside down values of the kingdom of God where “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Respectable religious observers may try to rely on prayers and fasting but our loving Father answers the simple prayer of the tax collector “who beat his breast and said, God have mercy on me, a sinner.”
· In the final verses, a blind beggar, cries out from the gutter, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” The crowd rebuke him but still he calls, “have mercy on me.” Blind to the physical world he senses spiritual reality very clearly. The beggar is an example of faith and his repeated appeal for mercy reflects the persistence of the widow. His humble cry for mercy echoes with the humility of the tax collector. Jesus breaks his journey and orders the beggar brought forward and asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” From the depths of his heart, the man answers for all lost and desperate people, “Lord, I want to see.” Jesus gives him what he asks and explains the reason why; “Receive your sight; you faith has healed you.” There is a double meaning: the man is both physically and spiritually healed and upon release from his darkness he immediately “followed Jesus praising God.”
The Jesus Prayer; “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
From the earliest times Christians have practised taking a phrase from the Gospels or Psalms and repeating it in prayer as a method of calming the restlessness of their minds and hearts so that they could focus on God. The most famous of these short texts, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” has become known as the “Jesus Prayer” and it takes its biblical roots in part from phrases in Luke chapter 18. The tax collector’s words, “God be merciful to me a sinner” [13] was the only way he could express his deep sense of emptiness. And the blind beggars repeated cry, “Jesus, have mercy on me,” was the only way he could express his longing to be healed.
When words fail, deep, loving praise or deep yearning can find expression in these phrases repeated in the presence of God.
Try it out!
· Find a quit place
· At first practice for 15 minutes or so.
· Be still
· Sit comfortably.
· Relax every part of your body.
· Calm down and breathe gently
· As an option breathe in as you say the first half of the prayer and out as you say the second.
· At first say the words out loud, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
· Then, if it feels right, repeat the words silently, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me
Try it alone or try it with others in a homegroup
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