Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today, let’s crash a prayer meeting

In today’s scripture, Luke 18:9‭-‬14 (ERV), we read contrasting prayers and postures…
There were some people who thought they were very good and looked down on everyone else. Jesus used this story to teach them:… “One time there was a Pharisee and a tax collector. One day they both went to the Temple to pray… The Pharisee stood alone, away from the tax collector. When the Pharisee prayed, he said, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not as bad as other people. I am not like men who steal, cheat, or commit adultery. I thank you that I am better than this tax collector… I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of everything I get!’… “The tax collector stood alone too. But when he prayed, he would not even look up to heaven. He felt very humble before God. He said, ‘O God, have mercy on me. I am a sinner!’… I tell you, when this man finished his prayer and went home, he was right with God. But the Pharisee, who felt that he was better than others, was not right with God. People who make themselves important will be made humble. But those who make themselves humble will be made important.”

Consider…
Back in the day, the Temptations had a popular song titled Ain’t Too Proud To Beg. The song titled came to mind when I read today’s scripture. When I read the Pharisee’s prayer I saw pride laced soliloquy, but when I read the Tax Collector’s, I heard someone who sang I ain’t too proud to beg.

Jesus regularly pointed out the self-righteous pride of the religious elite. Today’s scripture is another example of His contempt for self-righteous pride and compassion for those who are humble.

Let’s examine today’s example a little closer.

• Both men stood alone. That’s significant because it means they were having a one-on-one with God.
• The Pharisee began his prayer extolling his superior virtue, in comparison to others.
• The Tax Collector began his prayer acknowledging his unworthiness before God
• The Pharisee went on to brag on his religious compliance
• The Tax Collector confessed he was a sinner
• The Pharisee didn’t ask God for anything, presumably because he felt entitled to a reward for his goodness
• The Tax Collector asked for mercy

We may not have uttered the prayers of either man out loud, but God looks at our hearts. That’s where we stand alone with God. It’s in our hearts that we make our case to God for a reward, or a confession of our need for His mercy. There in the quietness of our minds we either compare ourselves to others before Him or humble ourselves beneath Him. Today’s scripture is a mirror that we must look into and ask, are we holding God to our standards or ourselves to His?

In Romans 12:3 (NLT), the Apostle Paul warns believers…
Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

And in Galatians 5:26 (ERV) he further admonishes…
We must not feel proud and boast about ourselves. We must not cause trouble for each other or be jealous of each other.

You’ve probably heard these before; the letter ‘I’ is at the center of pr’I’de, and EGO stands for ‘edge God out.’ However, have you paused to consider that when we’re prideful about our relative worthiness, we are actually telling God that Jesus’ death was unnecessary and His blood is worthless. That’s why Paul wrote Galatians 2:21 (NLT), which says…
I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

And he reminded believers in Ephesians 2:8‭-‬9 (NLT)…
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Paul’s point of salvation not being a reward tells me that earning God’s rewards rather than seeking His mercy is all about us and not about Him, causing us to miss out on His grace. Like James 4:6 (NLT) says…
And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

If we already think we’re alright, there’s no need for God’s grace, through Jesus, to make us right.

One final thought, the fatal flaw with comparing ourselves to others is, dirt compared to dirt is still dirt. Or maybe this will resonate better, losers that compare themselves to other losers are still losers. And last I checked, only Jesus has won the victory over sin and death. So until we are better than Jesus, I encourage us to continue working out our soul salvation with fear and trembling (Phillipians 2:12).

It’s in our acknowledgement of our unworthiness, like the Tax Collector, that God makes us worthy through Christ.

Today’s song is…
Unworthy

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)