Lessons on Prayer
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· 24 viewsLessons on how to pray based on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector
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This morning as we continue on in our series of the lessor known parables of Jesus I want to go back a few weeks and pick up where I left off with the parable of the persistent widow
If you weren’t here for that particular sermon, well first let me say, ‘Shame on you.’
Just kidding
Although we went much deeper into than this, for today it is enough for us to know how Luke introduces that particular parable
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Jesus had been teaching about the impending establishment of His kingdom when He switched gears sort of to make sure everyone was aware of the importance of prayer in the life of the believer as they worked and waited for His return
Then in the very next verse Jesus launches right into another parable, the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Let’s read it shall we, beginning at
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.”
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus goes right from teaching about how important prayer is in the life of a believer to a brief but comprehensive teaching on how those prayers ought to look
In this short parable Jesus teaches us both “how to” and “how NOT to” pray
He does that by showing us a sharp contrast in the prayers of two very different men, one a well respected member of the religious community and the other a person considered a traitor and the lowest of the low by any Jewish person
Now no one would fault you if you were to assume that in this scenario the proper way to pray would be demonstrated by the religiously trained member of the clergy
But as you already know so well, that assumption would be incorrect and so let’s begin by looking at why the Pharisee is the example of how NOT to pray
The first thing that we notice is that the Pharisee’s prayer was Pious
Dictionary.com defines “pious” as “characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion; sanctimonious”
It was the common practice of the Pharisees to pray twice a day and it was also common practice for them to make sure that everyone knew that they prayed twice a day and so, whenever possible, they would enter the temple in all of their vestal robes and make their way to the center of the inner court
The reason he would stand there was because it was the best place to be seen and heard by everybody
The prayer originally was a prayer of thanks to God for His benevolence and care for it was God who keeps a person’s way straight and true
But the Pharisee was taking the credit, he was, stealing God’s glory
Prayer was nothing more than an exercise in showing off his religious superiority
He was looking around and comparing himself to others and he was filled with pride that he was so much better than everyone else
Jesus had a lot to say about this kind of praying,
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
This man was praying to the people not to the Lord, which brings us to our second lesson on how NOT to pray
The Pharisee’s prayer was a prayer based on pride
“The Pharisee stood up and PRAYED ABOUT HIMSELF” Verse 11
Standing in the center of the inner court this man wanted everyone to know how great, how religious he was
If we’re not careful we can easily become guilty of this same sin, taking credit for the things that God has done for us as though we somehow caused them to be because of our own worthiness
The prayer that he prayed is actually a common prayer that is a part of the Jewish prayer book and is still prayed by orthodox Jews to this day
But the original intent of the prayer was to thank God for His care and providence in your life
Perhaps you have heard the expression, ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I’
That was the intent of the prayer, to acknowledge that God was responsible for the blessings of life, that through Him we have been kept from evil and on the straight and narrow path
But this Pharisee steals God’s glory, he takes credit claiming that it was because of his own actions that he was blessed
He even added a few things to the prayer so that everyone listening would know his actions and then even comparing himself to another person
Now I doubt that any of us would ever have the audacity to stand up in church and pray, “God I thank you for my salvation. In fact God I thank you that I am even more saved than Al over there who I saw coming out of the beer store with a case of Coors Light last week.”
Now just for the record, I DID NOT SEE AL COMING OUT OF THE BEER STORE WITH ANYTHING LAST WEEK! I am merely trying to make a point by using an extreme like Jesus
So we may never intentionally pray it, do we ever allow the idea to germinate in our mind that we are somehow responsible for some of the good fortune in our life
It’s because we go to church more often, or because we are a better person, or because we have made better choices
So you understand there is nothing wrong with any of those things, just like there was nothing wrong with the things that the Pharisee prayed except that he was stealing God’s glory
Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.
The Lord works out everything to its proper end—
even the wicked for a day of disaster.
The Lord detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.
When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way,
he causes their enemies to make peace with them.
Proverbs 16:3-
Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.
In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.
Do you realize that without Him we don’t get our next breath? Without Him we don’t get another day? Without Him there is no me
Do you realize that without Him we don’t get our next breath? Without Him we don’t get another day? Without Him there is no me
Paul described Jesus this way to the Colossian church
Colossians 1:15-
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
The third thing that we learn about how NOT to pray is something I’ve already touched on, this was a practiced prayer
Now please don’t misunderstand me, I am not suggesting that all prayers prepared in advance are wrong, There are different scenarios where I definitely use a pre-prepared prayer
But never is that prayer just simply recited
Several years ago I heard a lot of talk about how prayer was taken out of our schools with the elimination of the Lord’s Prayer but I disagree
The reason that I disagree is that reciting the words does not make it a prayer, it is simply a memorized oration
We taught our girls from a very young age that we didn’t want to hear them pray and give thanks for a meal and then complain about the food
We can’t just pray and say the same old things that we’ve always said without giving consideration to what we’re saying
Prayer does not come from your vocal chords, it comes from your heart using your mind and emotions and is sometimes expressed through your vocal chords
God doesn’t want to hear what you’ve memorized, He wants to hear from you, the real you
The you filled with emotions and feelings
Your prayer doesn’t have to be grammatically correct
Your prayer doesn’t even have to be politically correct
Go ahead and say what you’re thinking and feeling, God can take it, and nothing you can say will come as a shock to Him
And that brings us to the tax collector, that greedy politician who had made the hated Roman government his bedfellow
So hated was he that I have read it suggested that when Jesus said he, “Stood at a distance” it is because as a tax collector he was a social outcast and was forbidden to enter into the inner court, instead being relegated to the court of the Gentiles, not even having the rights of a Jew
But as we already read it is his prayer that is accepted by God so let’s see what lessons we can learn from it
The first lesson is that he bowed
The tax collector knew that he was coming into the presence of the most holy God and accordingly he assumed a posture of reverence
While it’s true that says,
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
But let us never mistake arrogance for confidence
Back that passage up a couple of verses and you will see that what it is talking about is that because Jesus understands what life is like for us, although we are sinners we can still approach the holy God of the universe knowing that our intercessor is there for us
I remember a time when I mistakenly thought that I could appropriate the promises of God because He cannot lie and so He has to fulfill His Word
And there is a certain truth to that but He is not a Genie who is at my command because of the terms under which I found Him
Little secret, God was never lost
I didn’t find Him…He found me
He brought me out of the pit, He redeemed me and when I approach Him, which I can do with confidence through Jesus, I had better do so with an understanding of who it is that I am approaching
Psalm 89:6-8
For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.
Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
Oh how I wish that I had the time to read that entire chapter for you or perhaps Revelation chapter 4 where John describes the throne room and the one sitting on the throne, or Isaiah’s vision of God in the year that King Uzzia died
But we need to move on
The second lesson we can learn from this prayer is that he beat his breast
It’s not the physical action described that I want to focus on this morning, it’s what it represents
The action of beating his breast in the Jewish culture was a sign of grieving or mourning
As this tax collector approached the most holy God his own sinfulness became apparent and he was grieved
While the Pharisee stood and declared how awesome he was, the tax collector was moved to repentance by his sinfulness
In Paul describes himself as “a Hebrew of Hebrews…a Pharisee” and “as for legalistic righteousness, faultless”
Quite an impressive guy I’m sure that you’d agree
And yet listen to what he wrote in his first letter to Timothy
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
It has been stated that if you are not the worst sinner you know, you don’t know yourself very well
The tax collector recognized his sinfulness and, in the presence of God’s holiness, it grieved him
Once again does say that we can approach God in confidence because of Jesus but part of that “because of Jesus” part is to be grieved because of my sin
Not “sorry” like someone who is sorry for getting caught, but grieved because we have failed Him, grieved because our sin crucified His Son, grieved because though we have been made dead to sin we keep opening ourselves up to it
The third lesson we can learn from this prayer is that he believed
He believed that although God was holy and that he was a sinner that God would hear him and answer his cries for mercy
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
James 1:5-
No I am not proclaiming the “name it and claim it” or “blab it and grab it” type of theology
What I am talking about is much more important than that, that when I cry out to God, when I acknowledge my need of Him and repent, I can be assured that He hears me and He will respond to me
He believed and so he cried out to God and as a result Jesus said that it was he that went home justified, that it was he that God heard and God responded to just as He will to us if we believe when we pray
The parable of the persistent widow teaches us that prayer is of the utmost importance in the life of the believer, but as we see in today’s parable there is a right way and wrong way to pray
Let us not be like the Pharisee who was pious and prideful and practiced in his prayer but instead let us learn to pray like the tax collector
For he bowed his head, he beat his breast and he blieved
Let’s pray
