A Sinner Prays

~~~ Hosea 6:1-6 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 18:9-14 ~~~

It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

What is worse/better, to recognize that you are a sinner

or to admit it before God?

The Pharisee and the tax collector enter the temple together.

Their internal dialogue paint very different pictures

of who they are within their soul.

The Pharisee's prayer is to compare 

himself to the tax collector.

How is this effective prayer? Should our prayer

 be focused on building up our own ego?

The tax collector's prayer comes 

from the realization that he has sinned against the Lord.

Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;

as certain as the dawn is his coming,

and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!

He will come to us like the rain,

like spring rain that waters the earth.

For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,

and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

When we come to prayer 

it must be with love and humility

not prideful thoughts of comparison.

How can we gain knowledge of God if our prayer

 is solely focused on our own degree of holiness?

The most saintly people who ever lived

did not boast about their own level of holiness;

in fact quite the opposite is the case.

The saints always desired to grow

 in love and knowledge of God.

They never assumed that they had complete 

understanding of God

Let your prayers lift up your heart

trusting that God is worthy of your trust.

Pray with the knowledge that God

 is not comparing you to the person kneeling beside you.

The Pharisee and the tax collector

knelt together in the same worship space.

Jesus presented them as equals in their prayer life

 by all outward signs.

Jesus uses their silent prayers

 to differentiate them from each other.

...it is love that I desire...

Love does not compare one to another.

Come to God in prayer just as you are...

strip yourself of trying to be better than the person next to you.

You will not find mercy looking down.

You will find mercy looking up into the face of the Lord.

Blessings in sincere times of personal prayer.

God loves you as you are...You are His.

~~~Peace~~~