Luke 18:9-14 - The Wrong Way to Pray

Jesusbegan this chapter (vv. 1-8), by telling a parable about prayer, speaking aboutthe necessity of prayer, that we ought always to pray and not to faint, and thefrequency of prayer, that we are to pray without ceasing, continuously,believing that the presence of the Lord is in our lives, knowing that He'sthere, and we have open communication with Him through Jesus Christ. Oh, howwonderful that is. Thenin verses 9-14, Jesus is talking about the failure of prayer as He tellsanother parable. Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselvesthat they were righteous and despised others. Now, how should we pray, and whatshould our attitude be when we come to pray? First, we see this Pharisee whowas deceived. He was deceived about himself; he trusted in himself and prayedthus with himself because he wasn't praying to God, and God wasn't listening tothis kind of prayer from a proud heart. He was deceived about his pride; hethought he was better than others. He despised the sinners around him insteadof loving and caring for them. Hethought that he could please God by his works. He fasted twice a week. Jewishlaw required fasting maybe once a year, but this man fasted twice a week. Hegave tithes down to the smallest detail of whatever he might have brought in,even from the field. Oh, he thought he was so good. That'sjust like so many of us who think we can please God and can gain His favor byour service, when God just wants a humble heart coming to Him, totallydependent upon Him for our salvation and everything in our lives, acknowledgingthat we are sinners and deserve nothing. That's why the Bible says in Ephesians2:8-9, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourworks, lest any man should boast." This Pharisee was boasting.  ThroughoutHis public ministry, Jesus exposed the self-righteousness and unbelief of thePharisees (see Luke 11:39-54). He pictured them as debtors too bankrupt to paywhat they owed God (Luke 7:40-50), guests fighting for the best seats (Luke14:7-14), and sons proud of their obedience but unconcerned about the needs ofothers (Luke 15:25-32). The sad thing is that the Pharisees were completely deceivedand thought they were right, and Jesus was wrong. This is illustrated in this parable.That’s what Jesus is doing here, exposing the hypocrisy of a man who thinkshe's religious enough to merit favor with God rather than humbling himself andcoming like a sinner. That'swhy Jesus said this publican, this tax collector, went home justified. To bejustified means to have a right standing with God, to stand righteous beforeHim without sin, without any guilt. Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore beingjustified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.  We are justified by faith not by our works.Only the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins. This publican came with ahumble heart; the Pharisee came with a proud heart. God wants us to come humblybefore Him in prayer and not “pray with ourselves” to be seen publicly,like Matthew 6:5 says about the hypocrite, so others will see him. I'mafraid many prayers, even in our churches today, by good, well-meaning people,are just flowery words that mean nothing to God because the person is prayingout of a motive to make sure everybody knows how religious, how special, howgood he is by all his deeds and works of service. God, help us, forgive us,cleanse us from that kind of attitude. May we come before Him with a humbleheart, trusting in the Lord for His grace and mercy today. We need to come likethis publican. He smote his breast; he knew his heart was dirty, not clean, andonly God could clean it. "Be merciful to me, a sinner"! What agreat prayer.  Itrust we will learn how to pray with frequency, with necessity, and with ahumble heart.