27th.: How Not to Pray
God wants us to spend time with him in prayer.
However, there are ways that God does not want us to 'pray'.
One example is given below,
“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-collector.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not as other
men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax-collector. I fast twice in the week,
I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax-collector standing afar off, would not lift up
so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his chest, 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 that
exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14).
The Pharisee knew his Bible. He had bragged about:
Tithing
Fasting
Staying away from adultery, etc.
The Pharisee thought that he was justified
Unfortunately, he forgot,
“there is no man that sins not.” (1st Kings 8:46b).
He overlooked the fact that he too offends God.
Could one say that this man's prayers hit the ceiling (of his pride) and stopped?
In contrast, the tax collector's prayers went through the ceiling to God.
"... a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." Psalm 51:17b