Ohana Prayer 289 – Luke 18
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not
give up.
7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?
Will he keep putting them off?
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else,
Jesus told this parable:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his
breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those
who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the
disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not
hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never
enter it.”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or
sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Praise the living God Jehovah, the creator of the earth, our Father God in heaven. There is no
“weakness” or “tiredness” in your vocabulary. Your wisdom is beyond measure.
Please forgive us and have mercy on us. Faced with the increasingly serious pandemic and the
uncertain political situation, our confidence begins to crumble and we become discouraged.
Since we seem unable to overcome our difficulties for a long time, the weed of despair has
sprouted inside us and the bitter roots of disappointment are growing towards our hearts,
making our bodies and souls weary and weak, unable to move on.
Thank you, merciful and kind Lord Jesus. According to the promise in the Bible: You give power
to the weak and strength to the powerless. You teach us to understand that even youths will
become weak and tired and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord
will find new strength.
Lord Jesus, may you help us persist in raising our holy hands to pray in faith unceasingly.
Unanswered prayer is a form of encouragement. Prayer that has not seen results is a kind of
reminder: reminding us that we do not have total trust in the Lord, we fail to whole-heartedly
rely on Him and we do not have the spiritual power to soar high on wings like eagles. This is the
reason why we cannot see things your way. However, if we persist and do not give up, we will
clearly see the finish line as soon as we turn the next corner.
Holy Spirit that touches people's hearts, please give us the tongue of the educated and teach us
the path we should follow every morning. May our words be an encouragement to those who
hear them. May we never stop praying, be thankful in all circumstances. May we keep on
praying day and night patiently for our generation, our families and our country; until the
sparks of the Holy Spirit light up a full flame of spiritual revival in all the churches.
Holy Spirit, you are just and fair. We have demolished our moral standard by our sinful and
selfish desires, we have destroyed the family infrastructure by crooked and distorted reasoning.
As a result our country and society are rapidly deteriorating, moving towards destruction.
Please hold up the rod of righteousness and put all evil doings to an end. May we treasure the
teachings of the Bible, refocus our lives and rely on the Holy Spirit to renew our spirits and
minds. May your mighty power work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we can ask
for. May you lead us back to the peaceful streams because you have compassion on us and you
will comfort the needy.
We pray in the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!