That Was A Good Prayer.
Luke 18:9-14
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon 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 every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Thought For Today
Do you ever find yourself feeling a little skeptical when you hear someone’s style of prayer? When I first became a Christian, occasionally I felt leery when hearing certain people praying because it didn’t sound genuine. There were even times that I felt that people weren't praying long enough, intense enough, and that most of them weren’t even serious about prayer. People would come for prayer, kneel down for a few moments, and suddenly stand up and start talking with friends about hunting and fishing or other things that wasn’t spiritual, etc. So I was critical of their prayer life. You know, I found myself thinking I was more spiritual than they were. I mean, I was at a higher level in my prayer life than they were and there was no way that their little prayers were getting through to God. They just didn’t seem to pray very effectively as far as i was concerned. This might have all been true, but God checked me. In God's eyes, my attitude about prayer and other's prayers stunk. We should never become critical of another persons prayer life or their style of prayer, nor should we try to fit others into our mold of prayer. A square peg is not going to fit into a round hole. Scripture says that we must all work out our own salvation, and I believe that that even includes our prayer life. Remember, it’s not how long you pray, when you pray, where you pray, nor how loud you pray; it’s your attitude when you pray that God is concerned with. My prayers are with you today!
