Life of Heritage
  • The Home Page
  • The Writer
  • The Books
  • The Blog
  • The Subscription
  • The Archives
  • The Order Form
  • The Privacy Policy
  • The Updates

Praying With Whom? // A Devotion

6/15/2018

 
Hello again! I know, two posts in one week! That’s because yesterday’s was a bonus post and I already had this one planned so…You either benefit or suffer more, however you want to look at it 😊
Picture
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Luke 18:9-14
We’ve all read the story of the Pharisee and the Publican. We would all like to believe we are like the publican, acknowledging our fault and pleading for the mercy of God. But how many times do we act more like the Pharisee?

We are so concerned with sins of others that we forget to examine our own. And could it be that we are allowing this attitude into our prayers? We pray for others and we should; there is nothing wrong with that. But are we forgetting to pray for our own spiritual growth? That we would draw closer to God?

Pride is listed as one of the abominations that God hates in the Bible and an attitude of “At least I’m not like them,” is certainly pride. And God cannot hear a prayer prayed in pride…so when we fall into this snare, who are we praying to?

According to our text, we are praying with ourselves! What a horrible thought! Our prayers are not heard and we are praying with only ourselves to hear it. What a sobering idea. While we “know” this simple truth, I wonder how many really know it. For if we really took it to heart, I think we’d see a change in our prayer life!

Of course, all our prayers are not prayed in pride, I know that. When we sincerely pray as the publican did, we have the blessed assurance that God hears our prayers. What a consolation! He hears and finds pleasure in the prayer given by a humble heart.

Keep this in mind next time you go to pray…perhaps we should begin our prayer asking God to protect us from the sin of pride!

Have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22
Picture
P.S. As many of you know, the Gettysburg portion of my story took me the longest to write/revise/edit. One of my original storylines included Seth being chased across a field (in the dark) on horseback by Union pickets…who may or may not have injured him in their eagerness to catch a spy…😉 Another story line had two family members meeting up on the field of battle…only one of them didn’t realize the other was there until it was too late (don’t worry, nobody died, just got hurt a little ☹) Who do you think they were? Tune in next time for another WIP snippet!

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Ryana Lynn

    Christian. American. Southern. Author.

    Subscribe for Blog Updates and a Free Short Story!

    Click Here!
    Picture


    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All
    9/11 War On Terror
    America
    A Song Of Home
    Battle
    Behind The Scenes
    Book Release
    Book Review
    Books
    Characters
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Civil War/ Revolution
    Coffee Shop Christmas
    Confederacy
    Cover Reveal
    Devotion
    Fact Or Fiction?
    FBN Radio
    First Responders
    For Young Ladies
    Fun Facts
    Game Review
    Guest Post
    Heritage
    Heroes
    Homeschool!
    Lifestyle
    Military
    Missions Spotlight
    Music
    Myths
    Natty's Warriors
    Nicknames
    Our Heritage To Save
    Plot
    Pro Life
    Reading List
    Revolution
    Robert E Lee
    Secession
    Short Story
    Soldier Life
    Stonewall Jackson
    Story Excerpt
    Story Prompt
    Tags
    The Battle For Heritage Series
    The Land Of Cotton
    The-land-of-cotton
    The Mason Family
    Themes
    The Rivers Of Sorrow
    Title Reveal
    To Save A Life
    Union
    Unsung Heroes
    Work In Progress
    Wrap Up
    Writing
    Writing Update
    Wwii

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • The Home Page
  • The Writer
  • The Books
  • The Blog
  • The Subscription
  • The Archives
  • The Order Form
  • The Privacy Policy
  • The Updates