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This week we are continuing our study of Chapter 18. Please read verses 18:9-14 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 18:11-12 (New International Version)
‘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.’
Over the years I’ve heard literally hundreds of people praying publicly. When I was a young lad, I used to listen to them and for some of these I was quite puzzled by the whole experience. I knew most of them really well and would speak to them often, however, as soon as they stood to pray, they would suddenly change their voice and their vocabulary would be transformed while they used words that weren’t in common use as far as I was concerned. One man would always do the same thing: stand bolt upright and with a booming, resonating voice, begin with “We thank Thee our loving, heavenly Father who hast blessed us and bestowed upon us such bounties from off Thine Hand.”
Please forgive me if you think I’m criticising – I do not intend to cause offence or to infer that this was wrong. It was just my experience of public prayer when I was young. I really didn’t understand much of what was going on and couldn’t work out why people were speaking in this way. It is amazing to note though that I remember vividly almost everything that some people said. Perhaps I can recall it with such clarity because it was so different. I don’t know. What I do know is that there were many occasions where I felt that the person praying was talking to the people in the room more than they were talking to God. This is a danger for most of us when praying publicly and we always have to be on our guard.
Jesus continues this parable about 2 men by stating the 2 prayers that were said. The first of these was made by the Pharisee and Jesus shows us why this prayer is wrong.
The Pharisee stood up – there is nothing wrong with this at all and in fact, it was to be expected. It seems to be that he is standing as close as possible to the actual sanctuary but again there is nothing necessarily wrong with this. We can have boldness to approach God’s presence based on our position in Christ. However, note what this man actually says and I hope you can see his motive shining through.
While he addresses his prayer to God, I believe that both inwardly and outwardly his prayer is all about himself and is being spoken to himself and to anyone else who’s listening in the room. His opening word is ‘God’, but from that point on, the so-called prayer is all about himself and never mentions the Lord again.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray by beginning with ‘Our Father’ and then declaring His praise and His greatness. The prayer includes a confession of sin and repentance while always keeping His Glory at the forefront of the prayer. ‘For Yours is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory’. This Pharisee’s prayer is all about comparing himself to the people around him and in particular ‘this tax collector’.
May God forbid that we have this kind of attitude in our prayers. May we always keep our eyes on the One who is beyond all comparison. Whilst we are not like the worst people in society, we can claim no credit for it. We have been made righteous by His grace and ALL by His grace. Not one of us deserves our position in Christ but praise Him that He has made it possible.
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