The Repentant

The Repentant


Luke 18:1 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

This is the story about a tax collector and a Pharisee. The Pharisee saw himself as someone who needed no repentance. He went up into the temple to pray. The story tells us he prayed to himself, and not to God. He claims that he was unlike other men, not an extortion, he was not an adulterer, or even as the tax collector he saw praying. The story does not tell us much about the tax collector, other than that he recognized his need for God. The Bible tells us that Jesus recognized the tax collector as the one who went down to his house justified in God's sight, rather than the Pharisee who prayed to himself. We are taught here, as in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), that the penitent unrighteous is more acceptable to God than the righteous who makes no confession of their sins.

This puts us on a rather personal level with our relationship to God. In our personal prayer time with God, lifting yourself up as the Pharisee did will bring judgment on you. Coming before God with a broken and a contrite spirit will draw you near to God. In Psalms 34:18, David is touched by God, when he says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” The apostle Paul was a man of prayer. In Philippians 4:6, Paul tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Paul tells us not to be anxious for anything. We can be sure that God will receive our prayer requests and we can be sure that He will answer them according to His will. Amen?


Prayer:
Heavenly Father, guide us in our prayers to you. Help us to have our prayers be prayers of repentance and thanksgiving. We give praise and glory to you and we ask for forgiveness of the wrong that we do to you and others. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.