Luke 18:9-14- Attitude to avoid in prayer

In the parable on the persistent widow we are shown that our willingness to persist in prayer reflects our view of God. When we understand God to be good and gracious, we will persist in coming to Him. Now, in the parable recorded in Luke 18:9-14, we learn that the content of a person's prayer reflects how he sees himself. Here we see an attitude of one who thinks that God owes it to him to answer his prayer. This parable tells of two persons in prayer. One's a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector, commonly known as a publican. One's a respectable person who was deemed to be well acquainted with the law and the other a despised outcast. They both came to the temple to pray.

Notice in verse 11 that the Pharisee was praying to himself. In fact he was praying about himself to himself. His attitude was repulsive. It was perfectly right and good to thank God which he did at the onset of his prayer. But what he did and said afterward were disturbing. He strategically positioned himself where he could be seen. And he prayed loudly where he could be heard. Then he self-righteously announced all the bad things he did not do. As if this was not enough, he used the tax-collector to elevate himself.

In contrast, the tax-collector inconspicuously stationed himself at a distance afar off and honestly confessed his flaws to God. With a broken heart, he acknowledged his sins before God. He did not do it for the people around to hear. In a spirit of contrition, he recognized that he was a sinner needing God's mercy and forgiveness. Whose prayer was heard? Who did God respond to? Jesus gave His verdict in verse 14. The tax-collector, He said, went away justified but not the Pharisee. Then The Lord rounded up by revealing the way to approach God. We must come humbly to God. He said, "The truly humble will be exalted in due time whereas the proud will be brought low."

How we pray reflects how we see ourselves. So the next time when we attend a prayer meeting or lead in prayer, resist the temptation to pray to the gallery. Focus on God and not on the people around us. Remember to approach God with a contrite heart. Be conscious that it is His righteous blood that cleanses. We can come into His presence because of what Christ has accomplished for us, or as the song says:  

Into Thy presence we come

Not by the works we have done

But by Thy grace, and Thy grace alone

Into Thy presence we come.