Facades create distance between God and us because we are not giving him full access to our hearts. Authenticity is what creates connection. This means that the words we say or the concepts we communicate in prayer are not what causes prayer to be effective. For starters, we can’t actually hide what we are thinking and feeling from God. Also, the idea that words or concepts are what make prayer effective is a pagan or magical one. It is not the words that have power—the person we are relating to has power, and it is when we open up our hearts that we allow him space to draw near. - Pastor Daniel Johnson, 6/14/26

Access Sermon Notes Here

Day 1

Featured Verse: Luke 18:9-14

When you examine your own heart in prayer, in what ways do you sometimes sound more like the Pharisee than the tax collector, and what does that reveal to you about how you view yourself before God?
In what areas of your life right now are you tempted to compare yourself favorably with others, and how might Jesus’ parable challenge that comparison?
When you come before God in prayer, how do you balance honest acknowledgment of your sin with confidence in His forgiveness, and what does the tax collector’s simple plea teach you about that balance?

Pause and Reflect: Lord Jesus, help me come before You today with an honest and humble heart like the tax collector, admitting my sinfulness and need for mercy instead of trusting in my own goodness or comparing myself to others. Teach me to pray simply, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” and grant me the grace to walk away justified and transformed by Your unfailing love.

“We are all naturally self-righteous. It is the family-disease of all the children of Adam. From the highest to the lowest—we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. We secretly flatter ourselves, that we are not as bad as some, and that we have something to merit the favor of God. … The true cure for self-righteousness is self-knowledge. Once let the eyes of our understanding be opened by the Spirit, and we will no longer talk of our own goodness. Once let us see what there is in our own hearts, and what the holy law of God requires, and self-conceit will die. We shall lay our hand on our mouths, and cry with the leper, ‘Unclean, unclean!’” -JC Ryle

Day 2

Featured Verse: 1 Samuel 16:7

If the Lord were to look straight into your heart right now as He looked at David’s, what would He see that others around you cannot, and how does that reality humble or comfort you?
When you look at yourself or others, how often do you still judge by outward appearance, achievements, or reputation the way Samuel and Jesse did, and in what ways is God calling you to repent of that same tendency today?
In what areas of your life are you still trying to impress people with your “outward appearance” (your image, success, or religious performance), and how might God be rejecting that approach in favor of a heart that truly seeks Him?

Pause and Reflect: Lord, You do not look at the outward appearance as people do, but You look at the heart; search my heart today and expose every hidden motive, pride, or self-reliance that I try to present to others. Create in me a heart that is pure, humble, and fully devoted to You, so that I may live before You according to what You see rather than what man sees.

“Is God omniscient, and His eye chiefly upon the heart? Then be sincere—be what you seem! … The consideration of God’s omniscience would be preventive of much sin. The eye of man will restrain from sin; and will not God’s eyes much more?” -Thomas Watson

Day 3

Featured Verse: Matthew 5:8

How does the promise that “the pure in heart shall see God” challenge the way you approach prayer and worship, especially when you are tempted to rely on outward religious performance rather than a cleansed and honest heart?
In what areas of your daily life are you still more concerned with how you appear to others than with cultivating a pure heart before the Lord, and what would true purity look like in those specific situations?
If purity of heart is what enables intimacy with God, how does the humility of the tax collector and the inner character God saw in David shape the way you pursue holiness right now?

Pause and Reflect: Lord Jesus, purify my heart from all hidden pride, impure motives, and divided affections so that I may walk in the blessedness of those who are pure in heart and truly see You. Grant me the humble honesty of the tax collector, the inner integrity You saw in David, and a single-hearted devotion that looks past outward appearances to delight in Your presence alone.

“Foul hearts make dim eyes Godward. To clear the eye we must cleanse the heart. Only purity has any idea of God, or any true vision of him. ... There is a wonderful connection between hearts and eyes. A man who has the stains of filth on his soul cannot see God, but they who are purified in heart are purified in vision too: ‘they shall see God.’” -Charles Spurgeon

blog