During our journey to Easter, we are seeking to pray FOR someone else. Jesus tells us a story of someone doing the exact opposite.
Someone praying in comparison to someone else.
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
What starts out as a classic “two men go into a temple” joke turns into a lesson in humility.
Today as we pray for other people, let us do so knowing that but for the grace of God go I.
Our Prayer: Father, thank you for saving me. Thank you for forgiving me. I pray others experience that as well.