Today's Bible reading is the 18th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18&version=NASB

In today's scripture reading there were a couple of passages that I wanted to make brief comments on. The first one is found in the first verse where Luke writes that Jesus was telling "a parable to show that at all times they need to pray and not lose heart." I need not go into the parable itself to praise God and be thankful that He wants us to know His desire for us to be people of prayer people who do not lose heart. As we grow in our faith and in our knowledge of the object of our faith, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (God), we will increasingly become people of prayer and people who do not lose heart. Nothing makes you more desirous of a greater prayer life than a more intimate relationship with Him. And the more we know Him, His ways, His love, His kindness, His grace, His mercy, etc.,
the more it is likely that we will be counted amongst those who do not lose heart.

Secondly, in today's text we also read the parable of the two men who enter the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The parable is well known and again, I won't go into its details. But I will point out one thing that struck me as I read the parable. The tax collector is quoted as having said, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner." He did not just see himself as "a sinner" but as "the sinner". I think this is a similar humbling before God that we see the Apostle Paul write of in 1 Timothy 1:15, when speaking of himself he said, "I am the foremost" of sinners. It is the right perspective any man or woman has when they see God with a right perspective.