Prayer more than words

This series of messages on prayer is designed to help the reader understand that your prayer is as good as you are before God. If you are living in rebellion to God, no matter how long you pray and how often you fast your prayers will not yield desired results. It is a fundamental fact that our prayers find favour before God because of the condition of our heart.
 We receive answers to prayers not necessarily because of the sweetness or length of our prayers but because of the soundness and appropriateness of our relationship with God.
 In last week’s instalment emphasis was on righteousness as a prerequisite to effective prayers. This week the focus is on humility.
 Neil T Anderson gave one of the most beautiful working definitions of humility. He said, “Humility is confidence properly placed.”  Jesus’ story of two kinds of prayers, one by a Pharisee and the other by a Publican in Luke 18:9-14 brings out the best scenarios of humility and pride.
The proud Pharisee’s prayer
In a nutshell, a Pharisee was a member of the Jewish sect that laid great stress upon the observance of rites and ceremonies and they were the official interpreters of the Mosaic Law. It was against this background that the Pharisee in question prayed the following prayer: “I thank you, God that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.” Jesus said that this prayer of the Pharisee did not arrest the attention of God. In other words the Pharisee’s prayer was rejected by God. Why so?
If you analyse this prayer you will find that the prayer was properly addressed to God. As mentioned above, observance of fast days and payment of tithe was a regular practice among the Pharisees. And it is probable that this Pharisee obeyed the 10 Commandments as he claimed. So why was his prayer rejected? It was rejected because of spiritual pride. He was right in the main but a proud heart was his sin. He placed his confidence in his himself instead of depending on the enabling grace of God.
Consequently, it was not a verbal sin or an overt sin that brought him down. It was a mental sin; a wrong attitude. He exalted himself unduly. His sin was made up of spiritual pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, self-exaltation, trust in own works and ostentation. As stated in the opening verse above God opposed him. He was brought low.
The humble publican’s prayer
God accepted the prayer of the publican and justified him. This is difficult to understand especially if you understand the historical background of the publicans. A publican was a collector of Roman revenues. Tax collectors were despised by the Pharisees as they were accused of collecting more money from tax payers than they were authorised to. So how come his prayer found favour in the sight of God? The reason is that his prayer was characterised by humility, contrition, unworthiness, repentance and confession of personal sin. Hear his sweet prayer, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” His prayer was humble. He did compare his religiosity with anyone else. He did not mention any of his credentials before God so as to curry His favour. Now, this does not mean that the most effective prayer is confessing that you are a sinner. It only shows us that it is humility before God that draws His attention to our prayers and not our spiritual list of credentials.
Observation
Christianity today is becoming hollow and fanatic. We are filled with spiritual pride. We are busy comparing ourselves with others unnecessarily. We boast of how many hours we pray per day and how long we fast and how powerful and gifted our pastors are. We forget that Jesus taught us to pray in secret and the heavenly Father will reward us openly. But our boasting in the flesh has resulted in our prayers receiving no favourable answers from God. We get our reward of praises and respectful greetings from men and wonder why God seems far way from us.
 Even most church leaders’ prayers and sermons are now full of comparisons, despising of others, boasting about the size of our flock, the clothes we put on, the car types we drive and the tithes and pay we receive. Can this deficiency in humility in the church be the explanation of the moral and spiritual decadence we are witnessing and experiencing today? This series was abridged from my book, Learning the art of prayer.
– For prayer and counsel call 0772889766 or email mairos78@yahoo.co.uk