Benjamin Spock led the way among child rearing professionals in instructing parents not to discipline their children. He said that doing so would damage children’s ego. Later in his life he realized that he had made a mistake and said:

“We have reared a generation of brats. Parents aren’t firm enough with their children for fear of losing their love or incurring their resentment. This is a cruel deprivation that we professionals have imposed on mothers and fathers. Of course, we did it with the best of intentions. We didn’t realize until it was too late how our know-it-all attitude was undermining the self-assurance of parents.” Source: Baptist Press, November, 6, 2007…

Dr. Spock acknowledged that his “know-it-all” mindset had a negative impact on society. What is your mindset as you go through the average day?

Is it one of “who cares!”
Is it one of “me first!”
Is it one that sees everything through the filter of bitterness?
Is it one of “work hard for God”
Is it one of love God and others

What kind of impact does your mindset have on society? You may never know the extent of your impact for Christ this side of glory. So, consider this as well: Your mindset reflects your view of God.

Luke 18:1 calls us to a mindset of prayer. It is vital that we live in a position / attitude / mindset of prayer!

A Prayerful Mindset

Luke 18:1 tells us that Jesus was about to tell a story to communicate an important truth. Here’s the truth: Pray…and be determined to keep praying! We must be in the mindset of coming to God in prayer for every circumstance.

”men ought always to pray” – pray in every circumstance

“and not to faint” – not to lose heart

We don’t need to pray about what the Bible has already commanded – we don’t have to pray about whether we should:

…go to church

…share the saving grace of Jesus with others

…get Baptized

…read our Bibles

…live for God

But outside such an understanding we are to pray in every circumstance -- “not loosing heart.” When do we lose heart…when do we faint – when we loose sight of God or don’t know Him as He is…when we stop rehearsing the reality of the person of the One true God!

A Divine Mindset

Your view of God affects your view of everything else! A proper Divine mindset will cultivate and strengthen a prayerful mindset. Luke 18:2 tells us the problem. The judge did not fear God — no wonder this judge was described as “unjust!” This unjust judge’s view of God was all wrong!

Famed and later disgraced cyclist, Lance Armstrong, went through a challenging bout of cancer. After he was declared in remission and back in cycling competitions, a reporter asked him if he relied on God or friends to help him get through the dark path of cancer. His answer was something like this, “God had nothing to with it. I won those medals. I fought cancer and won. I did all the work.” However, it was later discovered that he cheated to achieve his medals and was publicly disgraced.

How do you view God? Not sure? Take a look at your actions and habits…they will tell you and others of your view of God. The fear of God is only the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10)

A Continual Mindset

Luke 18:3-5. Do you see how the widow continues to come to the unjust judge? A Divine mindset that cultivates a prayerful mindset brings us to a continual mindset.

This spiritual discipline ought not be a haphazard habit, or a hot and cold relationship with God. If our prayer life is stirred to greater heights only when hardships enter our lives, then praise God for hardships!

The hardships are temporary. Relationship with God is eternal.

The Israelites demonstrate this hot and cold relationship with God repeatedly. The Old Testament book of Judges reviews this struggle in pain staking detail! The Israelites at walking with God…then they wander and embrace idolatry…then they experience hardship (bondage under their enemies)…then they cry out to God…then God shows His mercy. This cycle is repeated many times!

Consider these 4 potential weaknesses about our relationship with God from the book of Judges:

We can tend to lean toward choosing our view of God based on our current comfort levels
We can tend to lean towards wandering away from God during good or comfortable times.
We can find our view of God is often blocked by our own selfishness and pride.
We can often delay confessing and repenting of our sin because we find ourselves too comfortable in our wanderings from God.

A continual mindset requires right rehearsing. When you and I start thinking things like: “I know God’s Word says this, but I need this. God will understand.” When we start rehearsing these kinds of things, we are actively…purposely … wandering from God. At that point, our prayer life will not be what God leads us to have, nor will it be what we need! We need to double check what our minds our rehearsing – “for out of it are the issues of life!” (Prov. 4:23 … Phil. 4:8)

A Rewarded Mindset

Luke 18:7-8. Our relationship with God is crucial! He is the only One who can. God and God alone is our need! A Divine mindset cultivates the prayerful mindset and then nurtures a continual mindset — this all yields rewarded mindset.

The widow comes to the unjust judge repeatedly. What does her continual mindset reap with an unjust judge? Her request is granted. We are called to come to the Lord (the just judge) repeatedly. Our continual mindset with the Lord is not only commanded by God, but it also pleases God!

A Faithful Mindset

Luke 18:8.

“Even to the end there will still be ground for the same complaint of weakness of faith. – Matthew Henry

So, we return to the same question we started with, “What kind of impact does your daily mindset or attitude have on society?”

My family always called my grandmother - “Gram.” Gram was a prayer warrior! She would often say that the first thing she does in the morning is pray…and she would pray about everything and everyone. If you knew Gram, she was probably praying for you! Gram had 5 children, 18 grandchildren, and more than 40 great-grandchildren. She prayed for them all. She also prayed over the simplest of things. If she couldn’t find her glasses, she would pray for the Lord to help her find her glasses — she says she would then turn around and her glasses would be right there!

A prayerful mindset will infiltrate every area of our lives when a sharper view of God is rehearsed daily. Sharpen your view of God today.