Jesus came to Earth to bring salvation to all who were willing to admit they were in need of a Savior. Often the religious leaders of the time were too arrogant to humble themselves before God, but it was the outcasts of Israel who humbly welcomed Jesus.
So perhaps it is no surprise that leper, a persistent widow and a despised tax collector each had a role in revealing important truths about meaningful prayer in the Gospel of Luke. As our Read Through the Bible Class has been reading through this powerful gospel account, here is what we can learn from each of these individuals:
The Leper’s Prayer of Thankfulness
In Jesus’s time, lepers were the definition of an outcast: not only were people afraid of catching the devastating condition that is leprocy from them, but they were also afraid that getting near them would make them ceremonially unclean. This type of uncleanness would mean you couldn’t go to the synagogoue until a ritual cleansing was performed. To prevent any accidental run-ins with lepers, they were kept out of cities, living in colonies by themselves. They had to yell the warning that they were “unclean” whenever an outsider came near.
In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus meets 10 lepers who ask him to heal them. He tells them to make their way to the priests, who would have to confirm that they were healed. The men began walking toward the priests, and while they were traveling, they were healed. Only one of the lepers turned around and came back to thank Jesus, worshipping and praising Him for what He had done.
Jesus asked in verse 17, “Were there not 10 who were cleansed?” He was disappointed in the remaining 9, who experienced a miraculous answer to prayer, and yet didn’t thank the One who healed them.
We can learn from the leper who did return how important it is to take time to thank God for answered prayers. It can be easy to pray diligently when times are tough, but to move on when everything is going well. Have you ever written down your prayer requests? That can be a great way to circle back and recall what you prayed for in the past. When God answers your prayers–even when the answer isn’t what you were hoping for–He is worthy to be praised!
The Widow’s Persistent Prayer
Have you ever wondered if God wearies of hearing your prayers? We learn from the story of the persistent widow that, in fact, He wants us to pray with vigor.
Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. The woman asked a judge to avenge her against someone who had wronged her. The judge, who was not a God-fearing man, didn’t care about the woman’s plight. But he cared about his own, and he was tired of hearing from her! He decided to grant her wish simply to free himself of her asking him over and over again. Jesus told his audience in verses 7 and 8: “Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.”
Put another way in Luke 18:1, “Men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”
Isn’t it encouraging to know that the Creator of the Universe welcomes us to talk to Him often, even about the little things, and to have hope in Him?
The Prayer of a Despised Tax Collector
Finally, we learn about prayer in the Gospel of Luke when a religious leader called a Pharisee prays loudly at the temple while a tax collector also prays nearby. The parable of the two men who prayed, found in Luke 18:9-14, describes how the Pharisee prayed with a very loud voice. He compared himself to extortioners, adulterers, and even pointed out the tax collector, loudly thanking God that he was better than all of them. In his arrogance, he decided to compare himself to fellow men, but that’s not the standard God has set for us: we are all sinners who are held to God’s standard, not men’s. And none of us is worthy of Him. He has given us the gift of His forgiveness and a relationship with Him when we accept that we are sinners, that He died to pay the price for our sins and that He loves us and should be Lord over our lives.
In contrast, the tax collector was so ashamed of himself, he couldn’t even lift his eyes as he prayed for forgiveness. He beat his breast and said in verse 13, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Jesus told His listeners that the tax collector, who was aware of his own sins and repented of them, left the temple forgiven. The arrogant Pharisee did not. We can learn from the tax collector to always approach God with humility. We should never arrogantly compare ourselves to other people: we could all find people who think are doing worse than we are, and people who we perceive to be doing better. But that’s not the standard our God has set for us. He sent His son to die on the cross for our sins, and we need to take the price He paid for each of us seriously. We must approach God with humble repentence and seek His forgiveness in our prayer life.
Come Study with Us
For more than 30 years, Springhill Baptist Church has had a Read Through the Bible Class open to adults at all levels of familiarity with scripture. We invite you to join us for class on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. to study the greatest Book ever written in history!