Pray with Humility

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PRAY WITH HUMILITY

Luke 18:9-14  To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

I heard of this parable being taught to some children, and when they were done one prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like that Pharisee ..." Seems he missed the point - as do many of us. For often there may be more of the Pharisee in us than we realize.

Like the tax collector, we remember Peter's first prayer "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" Luke 5:8 The Pharisee doesn't seem to have such a sense of the degree of God's holiness. God, while he is gracious and forgiving, seriously hates sin and will not ultimately tolerate it.

Now chose which example of prayer to follow: that of the Pharisee or that of the tax collector.

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources

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