Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25-33 (ESV)

Jesus deliberately narrowed the gate and path for his followers, and he cautioned his listeners, including us, that following him carries a rather large price tag. We need to ask for the Lord’s help to be a disciple.

Prayer

Jesus, I choose to be your disciple and, with your help, I embrace the cost. I choose my relationship with you over all my other relationships. I am willing to be rejected by people who may misunderstand or hate my loyalty to you. My desire is for my family and friends to walk together with me on this journey of faith, but, if need be, I choose to put you ahead of them, no matter how much it hurts to do so. Lord, forgive me for loving myself more than you. I purpose to put you first from now on. Help me to embrace any persecution or suffering which may accompany boldly witnessing to you and sharing the gospel. I choose to carry my cross daily and put your will over mine whenever there is a conflict. Lord, I give you my finances. All I have came from you and belongs to you, and I give it back to you. Help me to never back away from any cost associated with following you, even if it means death. Help me never to retreat or surrender to the attacks of Satan and the people who serve him. I renounce everything I have – my relationships, my choices, my money, my right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, my comfort, my time, my peace – so that I can please you. I know that you will give me back more than I can ever give you. I totally depend on your grace and the Holy Spirit to enable me to follow you as a disciple. Allow me to be an encourager to all those who call on your name. Amen.

For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects — bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14 (NET1)

Before we can do God’s will, we must know what it is. Paul’s prayer above asks God to fill us with the knowledge of God’s will and purpose. It’s one thing to catch of glimpse of something God wants to do, and another thing altogether to be “filled” with the knowledge of his will. God wants us to be immersed in his will and overflowing with the desire to fulfill it. We need spiritual wisdom and understanding to adequately comprehend what God is doing and plans. The purpose of such wonderful knowledge and understanding is to make us fully obedient. Knowledge without obedience sadly is grounds for a stricter judgment. It would be better not to know what God wants from us than to know but not obey. However, if we choose to obey, God’s grace comes alongside us (in the Person of the Holy Spirit) to enable us to bear lasting fruit and grow even more in our knowledge of God and his will. Lastly, the character of Christ will be further developed in us as we obey and grow in our knowledge of God. Our thanksgiving will bring God even more glory!

Prayer

Lord, fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we may live worthily and please You in all respects. Please give us lasting fruit as a result of every good thing we do through faith and obedience. Help us to grow in our knowledge of You and be strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might, so that your patience and steadfastness will be on display. This will lead everyone to joyfully give thanks to You, Father, Who have qualified us through Christ to share in your inheritance. You delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son You love, our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. Thank you! Amen.