Two Ways to Pray -- Tim Phillips

 

What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is -- and no more. ~ Robert Murray McCheyne

One of my favorite parables of Jesus is found in Luke 18:9-14 -- the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Of course, the parable is a little ruined for us in our day, because Pharisees are automatically considered to be "bad guys" in our thinking (although I guess that's also true for tax collectors). It would not necessarily have been the case in Jesus' day, however. The Pharisees were the religious leaders in the synagogues, and they were generally considered to be morally and religiously upstanding individuals (at least until Jesus begins to highlight their hypocrisy). It's a bit like watching the first three Star Wars movies (that is, Episodes I-III) -- because we've seen Episodes IV-VI and we know that Anakin Skywalker is going to become Darth Vader, it's very difficult to watch those movies without expecting him to do something bad eventually. So it is with this Pharisee -- we know he's bad, and we almost expect him to pray a bad prayer. But for Jesus' audience, that was likely an unexpected twist.

This post has to do with prayer, and in Terry Johnson's wonderful book on The Parables of Jesus, he cites the brief quote from Robert Murray McCheyne that I posted above: "What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is -- and no more." Johnson goes on to elaborate:

What McCheyne meant was that the contend and manner of our prayers reveal our true convictions about God, life, and eternity. Our prayers reveal our theology lex orandi, lex credendi. According to this ancient principle, the "law" of faith is the "law" of prayer. What we (truly) believe is revealed by how we pray. Moreover, our approach to prayer reveals our approach to life. We live as we pray. Our manner of addressing God reveals the theology through which we address the whole of faith and life. We may put it this way: nothing so reveals our true convictions about life and eternity as our prayer life. ... Our beliefs directly shape both our prayers and our life. We live as we pray. We pray as we believe. (Terry Johnson, The Parables of Jesus, pp. 111-113)

The Pharisee in Jesus' parable loved himself and loved to compare himself with others. "God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18:11). He viewed himself as better than others in both his outward morality and outward display of religion. The tax collector, however, compared himself not with others but with God and His holy standard. "God, be merciful to me, the sinner" (Luke 18:13). He comes before God in full recognition of his sin. He asks God to show him mercy. Literally, he asks God to be propitious to him -- to turn aside His anger and wrath and forgive him. And He comes before God and prays with a humble heart (Luke 18:14). Jesus tells us the tax collector went home from the Temple justified and forgiven before God. The Pharisee exalted himself in his prayer, but for the sinner who humbles himself before God, he will be lifted up by God. If we are to take this parable of Jesus seriously, this calls for an examination of our own prayer life and a commitment to a humble and more disciplined approach to prayer.

As of this month, I will have been at my current pastorate for 5 years. When I first arrived, I began preaching through Paul's letter to the Philippians. Based upon the study of that New Testament book, I have told the congregation many times that I have discovered the secret (or at least a major secret) to living the godly Christian life: be humble, and be content. While there is more to the Christian life that this alone, we would do much better if we would live according to those instructions from Paul in Philippians 2 and 4.

We often long for revival in our churches and in our nation. But such revival must first begin with us -- a revival of cool, complacent, apathetic hearts strengthened to a renewed life in Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. "I am exceedingly afflicted; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word" (Psalm 119:107). God revives His people through the ordinary means of His word, but He also does this through the ordinary means of prayer. And if we hope to see this refreshing work in our own lives and in our churches, it must begin by avoiding self-sufficient prayers like those of the Pharisee, and offering up humble, repentant prayers like those of the Tax Collector.

There are, therefore, two ways to pray. The tax collector in Jesus' parable came humbly before God in prayer. Will you do the same in 2022?