What Kind of Prayer is That?

Remember the story Jesus told about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector? Both came to the temple to pray. Sounds like a good thing.

The Pharisee got up to pray and elequently prayed a prayer confirming before God how he had been obedient to all the commandments. He even kept laws that were not in the Bible. And he gave thanks in his prayer. He was so grateful that he had been able to keep himself from becoming a sinner - like some others present.

Then the Tax Collector and prayerd a prayer. "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."

The implication is that ther Phairisee thought, "what kind fo prayer is that? Why do they let people like that in here anyway? Why do they take up valuable time in the temple with their un-tooled prayers?"

What was the purpose of Jesus telling the story. Jesus stated the purpose in Luke 18:9. "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:..."

I wonder how many of us consider our own level of conquering sin as our spiritual standing? Of couse, we try to live free from sin. But it is not our personal success which defines our standing before God. It's not even our ability to pray elequent prayers in public.

It is our willingness to humble ourselves and declare, "Have mercy on me, a sinner oh God."

That is my prayer this morning!