A Prayer Without Excuses

My dear son,

You do not need to bring someone else's faults before your Father to prove you are better. Tonight, I want to hear the truth of your own heart. Come close just as you are.

If you recognize a wrong, name it honestly and ask for mercy. I treasure a heart that returns truthfully. My grace is available without a list of achievements to recommend you.

Set aside comparisons that lift you above someone or push you below them. Consider what needs changing in your life and ask your Father for help. Rely on the mercy that welcomes you, and let yourself rest with a humble, peaceful heart.

With all my love,
Your Father

Luke 18:9–14

WEB

9He also spoke this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others:
10“Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
11The Pharisee stood and prayed by himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men: extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’
13But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

A short reflection

Jesus says the tax collector who asked for mercy went home justified, unlike the Pharisee who exalted himself.

World English Bible (WEB) · Public DomainRead the chapter