New Morning Mercies #318

Prayer is abandoning my righteousness, admitting my need for forgiveness, and resting in the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ.

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9–14)

It is a shocking prayer that the Pharisee speaks in Christ’s confrontational parable. It isn’t shocking just because he compares himself to sinners worse than him. We are all tempted to do the same, to ease our consciences by pointing to someone whom we assess to be more unrighteous than we are. It isn’t shocking just because he lists his good works in his prayer. We all make ourselves feel better about our spiritual state by cataloging the good things we have done. It’s shocking because he is saying these things to God, who knows us all even to the deepest recesses of our hearts. He feels quite comfortable in God’s presence because he is deeply convinced that, as a righteous man, he deserves to be there.

What’s shocking about this prayer is that it is not a prayer at all. There is nothing prayerlike about what this man is doing. What he says is not prayerlike in posture, attitude, or content. In shocking self-confidence, he essentially looks God in the face and says: “I don’t need you. I don’t need your compassion. I don’t need your forgiveness. I don’t need your strengthening. I don’t need your wisdom. I don’t need your help. I’m doing quite well on my own.” If you pray a prayer in which you essentially tell God that you don’t need him, it may be a pseudo-religious pronouncement, but it is not a prayer.

Real prayer is prayed in an attitude of what the Puritans called importunity, which is the condition of being troublesome or persistent because of a deep sense of urgency. It means being frightened into crying out for help. It is a condition of heart that is there only as the result of grace. It’s grace that causes you to acknowledge your sin. It’s grace that causes you to be frightened by where that sin can lead you. It’s grace that opens your heart to the help that only God can give. Real prayer is motivated by that grace and acknowledges your need for that grace. Prayer isn’t an announcement of personal righteousness, but a cry for help that rests in the righteousness of another. Have you prayed today?

For further study and encouragement: Luke 18:1–14