Stay Low
(Morning Service)
Text: Luke 18: 9-14
In this parable, we’ll meet two very different characters. Both were well-known types of people in 1st Century Israel, and each character exhibits vastly different ways to approach God. This morning we’ll ask ourselves: In light of Jesus’ words, how should we approach God in prayer? And how does that change the way we pray?
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat 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 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
(Luke 18:9–14 ESV)”