The Prayer God Hears (Ashtabula)

Ashtabula First UMC Worship Plan: The Prayer God Hears (October 26, 2025)

Theme: The Prayer God Hears: The Power of Humility

Color: Green (Ordinary Time / Reformation Sunday)

I. The Gathering

Welcome & Announcements

Pastor: Good morning, everyone, and a warm welcome to Ashtabula First United Methodist Church. Today is a challenging and encouraging day as we explore "The Prayer God Hears." We'll be looking at Jesus' unforgettable story that reminds us that true connection with God is built not on our performance, but on our humble honesty. Now, let us rise in body or spirit as our prelude begins. I invite our acolyte, Jeff, to bring forth the light of Christ to our altar as we begin our worship service.

Prelude

Call to Worship

Leader: God enters our struggles to bring us joy.

People: God is our hope and our salvation.

Leader: The Lord blesses the earth with rain.

People: God crowns the year with bounty.

All: Let us worship the God who hears the prayer of the humble heart.

Opening Hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (UMH 110)

Opening Prayer

Giver of dreams and visions, pour out your Spirit on our fellowship, for we need your presence in our lives. Touch our spirits with the awe of your majesty, that we may humbly dwell within your courts in peace and harmony. Amen.

II. The Word

Scripture Reading 1: Luke 18:9–14

Luke 18:9–14 NIV

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone 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 by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—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 all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Hymn of Response "Lord, I Want to Be a Christian" (UMH 402)

Scripture Reading 2: 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16-18

2 Timothy 4:6–8 NIV

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:16–18 NIV

At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Sermon: The Prayer God Hears

Pastor: Let us pray. Gracious God, give us the courage to be honest in your presence. Humble our hearts that we may truly receive your mercy and walk away justified. Amen.

Good morning.

I want to start today by talking about one of the most most natural, yet most complicated, things we do as people of faith: we pray. When we pray, we are talking to the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe. But the question that often whispers in the back of our minds is: When we pray, are we truly connecting? Are we being heard? This is not a question about God’s ability to listen, but about our ability to speak honestly.

Our central text today is Jesus' unforgettable story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, and it gives us a clear answer. This story is not about who is good and who is bad; it's about posture. It’s about the state of our heart when we come before God. Jesus tells this parable directly to those "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt." It is a surgical strike against one of the most seductive sins in the spiritual life: pride.

I. The Two Prayers: The Performance of Pride

Jesus sets the scene: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector." These two men represented the absolute spiritual extremes of their society.

First, there is the Pharisee. He stands and prays, essentially presenting God with a spiritual résumé. He boasts of his accomplishments: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—thieves, rogues, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give tithes of all that I get.”

We are tempted to see him as the villain, but let's be honest: the Pharisee was a paragon of religious discipline. He was doing more than the Law required! He didn't just tithe; he tithed on everything, even garden herbs. He didn't just fast on the required holy days; he fasted twice a week. He lived an external life of unquestionable piety.

His problem was not his discipline; his sin was his dependence. His prayer wasn't a connection with God; it was a disconnected piece of paper—a list of things he had done to earn God's favor. He had confused his impressive works with salvation. He left no room for God's mercy because he believed he had paid his way into a preferred relationship with God. He came to the temple to inform God how righteous he was, not to ask for grace. By comparing himself favorably to the tax collector, he pushed the one person who truly needed mercy further away, both from himself and from the temple. His pride created a spiritual vacuum: he walked away full of himself, and empty of God.

The Pharisee's prayer is the ultimate example of a performance-based faith. It is the faith of the spiritual scoreboard, which operates on the assumption that if we just do enough, give enough, and be good enough, God owes us a blessing, a protection, or a preferential place in the heavenly kingdom. It's the spiritual trap that convinces us we can achieve wholeness through our own effort, leading only to arrogance when we succeed and despair when we inevitably fail.

Then there is the Tax Collector. He stands "far off," a deliberate, physical posture of shame and separation. He doesn't even lift his eyes to heaven, but beats his breast in genuine, visible remorse. He knows his life is a disaster. He is a collaborator, a cheat, and a traitor—a wealthy man whose wealth came directly from extorting his own neighbors on behalf of the Roman oppressors. He doesn't have a spiritual résumé; he has a debt ledger. He has nothing to offer but his own brokenness, and his entire prayer is a single, desperate plea: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" The word he uses for "sinner" literally means "one who misses the mark." He knows he has completely missed the mark of God's holy standard.

The Tax Collector's prayer isn't a long list of requests; it's a statement of total, naked dependence. He is not negotiating. He is not bargaining. He is simply saying, "God, I am utterly lost and without hope, and I throw myself completely on your mercy." He claims no goodness of his own, only the magnitude of God's grace.

The Power of the Posture: The power of the Tax Collector's prayer wasn't just the words he spoke; it was the entire way he stood before God. He stood "far off" because he felt unworthy to be close—a humbling admission that the consequences of his actions were real. But more tellingly, he beat his breast—a physical act of contrition and pain, where he was intentionally striking the seat of his conscience, his spiritual heart. This was not a passive request; it was a physical demonstration of spiritual agony and absolute surrender. He was not just saying, "I sinned"; he was saying, "My sin has wounded my soul, and I am ready to stop the bleeding. Only God can heal this." His prayer was not just an acoustic event; it was a spiritual and physical act of acknowledging the sacred distance between his brokenness and God's holiness. It is in this radical, honest posture that he leaves room for grace to enter and perform its miracle.

II. The Verdict of Grace: Justified by Posture

And Jesus' verdict is absolute, shocking the crowd who had judged based on external appearance: "This man went down to his home justified rather than the other."

The power of the prayer God hears lies not in its eloquence or its content, but in its posture of humility. God justified the Tax Collector because he made no claim on his own goodness; he made an absolute claim on God's mercy. He was made whole not by his doing, but by his being—a recognized, broken, and redeemed sinner.

This verdict is the core of the Gospel. It asserts the principle of sola gratia—salvation by grace alone—which is the bedrock of our faith. Justification is not something we earn through effort; it is a gift we receive through humble submission. The Pharisee went home empty because his cup was already full of himself; the Tax Collector went home full because his emptiness left room for God.

Clarifying the Verdict: The Gift of Justification

The word "justified" (dikaioō in Greek) is the most important word in this entire story. It is not just a nice thought or a compliment; it is a legal declaration and a spiritual reversal of fortune.

It means to be declared righteous—to be made right with God, not because of anything we did, but because of what God has done. The Tax Collector, with his history of theft and collaboration, was declared "Not Guilty" in the court of heaven, while the Pharisee, with his perfect record, was left to stand alone.

This verdict affirms the core truth of the Protestant Reformation and the Wesleyan tradition: we are made right with God by faith alone (sola fide) and grace alone (sola gratia). Justification is the recognition of our absolute dependence on God's mercy. It means God looks past our pitiful, self-written spiritual résumé and sees the work of Christ instead.

The verdict asserts that God does not grade on a curve. God operates on a system of perfect justice, yet chooses to apply perfect mercyto the broken, humble heart. The only thing required to receive this righteousness is the confession that we desperately need it.

This radical truth might sound simple—just be humble!—but our human nature resists it constantly. That's why we must look at the testimony of one who lived this truth over a lifetime of service: the Apostle Paul. His life proves that this humble posture is the foundation for all spiritual maturity.

A Warning Against Cheap Grace

Now, we must be careful not to fall into the opposite trap. The great theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this “cheap grace.”Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without demanding repentance and discipleship. It is the idea that because God is merciful, we can continue to live however we want without consequence or commitment.

The grace that justifies us is free, but it is never cheap. It is free to us because it cost God everything. The Tax Collector was justified after beating his breast in genuine remorse—a visible, humble sign that he was ready to turn his life around. God's mercy is an invitation not to stay comfortable in our sin, but to be freed from our sin so we can follow Christ.

The honest heart that cries for mercy is the heart that is simultaneously saying, "I am ready to change." This humility is the starting line for a lifetime of service and discipline.

III. The Posture of Paul: Humility Lived Out

In 2 Timothy, chapter 4, near the very end of his life, Paul makes what sounds, at first, like the Pharisee's final résumé: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." After decades of itinerant ministry, suffering shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment, and betrayal, Paul reviews his life and pronounces it a success.

But Paul's words immediately following reveal his heart, even after a lifetime of ministry, still beats with the humility of the Tax Collector. His confidence is not in his record; his confidence is in his Rescuer. He puts his ultimate trust not in his own strength, but in God's faithfulness.

Paul does not say, "I fought, and therefore I won." He says: "The Lord stood by me and gave me strength... and I was rescued from the lion's mouth... The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom."

Paul is not saying, "Look what I did." He is saying, "Look what the Lord did for me!" Paul is testifying that every victory he achieved, every mile he ran, and every act of service he performed was fueled by the power that God freely gave him. His strength was entirely a gift, an undeserved rescue from the metaphorical "lion's mouth." Paul is embodying the life of the justified sinner: his entire existence is a testimony of mercy, not a record of self-achievement.

The posture of the humble heart isn't just for beginners kneeling in the temple; it's the place where the most mature saints must live. It's the spiritual space where we acknowledge that our security, our strength, and our final salvation come from God's steadfast love alone, not from the impressive lists on our spiritual résumés.

IV. The Liberation of the Humble Heart

So, what is the profound liberation found in embracing this humble posture? It is the freedom from the crippling anxiety of performance.

When we live with the Pharisee's mindset, we approach God with a spiritual résumé, and we live under a constant, exhausting pressure. We are always worried about earning our justification, always measuring ourselves against others, and always comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. We become spiritually competitive and spiritually brittle. When we fail, we feel utter despair because we believe our acceptance depends entirely on us. This pressure robs us of our joy and makes our service transactional.

But when we embrace the humble prayer of the Tax Collector—"God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"—we receive an astounding gift: the liberation to serve without fear. We receive peace, which is not based on how many good deeds we accomplished this week, but on the certainty that Christ has paid the debt in full. The energy we used to spend writing our résumé—the energy wasted on anxiety, comparison, and fear of failure—can now be spent doing the good fight that Paul spoke of. This is genuine power, liberating us to serve out of joy, not out of fear.

This liberation transforms our entire existence. It turns our service into joy and our gratitude into a healing force. When we stand before God, knowing that our acceptance is secured by God's perfect love, we are freed to live a life unburdened by the need to prove ourselves. This is the source of genuine spiritual rest. It's the freedom to love without expectation, to serve without reservation, and to give without fear.

And finally, we receive the key to mercy. The humble heart is liberated to forgive others because it knows how much it has been forgiven. The one who has received abundant, undeserved grace cannot, in turn, withhold it. This breaks the cycle of pride and contempt that Jesus warned against, making us agents of mercy in a broken world.

The prayer God hears is not the elegant one; it is the honest one. It is the simple, heartfelt confession that admits failure and throws itself entirely on the abundant grace of the Creator. It is the posture we must adopt every day, from our first thought in the morning to our final breath at night. It is the place where all are welcome, and where all are justifiedand made whole.

Amen.

III. Response and Intercession

Anthem

Transition to Prayer

Pastor: Please be seated. Having received the challenging Word of justification, we now turn our hearts toward prayer. We bring the burdens of the world and the needs of our lives to the One who alone hears the honest cry of the heart. I invite you now to a time of silent intercession, lifting the unspoken needs of our community and the global church. (A period of silent intercession is observed.)

Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer

Pastor: Gracious and Holy God, we thank you that your mercy is greater than our sin and that your faithfulness is greater than our performance. We pray that you would strip away our spiritual résumés, filling us instead with the humble honesty of the Tax Collector. Strengthen the weary in our midst, encourage the one who feels like giving up, and assure us all that our justification rests entirely on your free grace. We pray all this in the name of Christ, who taught us to pray: (The Lord's Prayer - In Unison.)

Offering

Pastor: Our offering is a practical act of humility, acknowledging that everything we have is a gift of God's grace. Our generosity is a physical commitment to the justice and mercy we have prayed for. Will the ushers please come forward?

Doxology

Pastor: As the gifts are brought forward, please rise in body or in spirit, and join us in singing our praise to the God who justifies and sustains us. (Congregation stands as able.) Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication

Pastor: Let us pray. God of infinite mercy, receive these gifts, not because of the merit of our hands, but because of the grace of your Son. Use them to extend your justice and mercy in the world, that all may know the liberation of a humble heart. Amen.

IV. Sending Forth

Closing Hymn "How Great Thou Art" (UMH 77)

Pastor: Having been justified by grace, we leave this place with the confidence of Paul and the heart of the Tax Collector. Let us stand now and sing our declaration of God's majesty and faithfulness. "How Great Thou Art" (UMH 77)

Benediction

Pastor: Go now, and carry the memory of the two prayers in your heart. May you always come before God with honesty and always walk away with the assurance of God's free grace. May the Lord stand by you and give you strength. And may the blessing of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.

Postlude(The acolyte will carry the Light of Christ out during the Postlude)