Tuesday – Luke 18:9-14
Jesus taught that we are to pray humbly, and also to confess sin humbly as well. To illustrate this, Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee compared himself to others listing the reasons he was more holy than everyone else. In stark contrast, the tax collector saw himself in light of a holy God.  He bowed his head in repentance and begged God for mercy. Jesus said the tax collector was the only one who went home forgiven.

A basic premise of prayer is remembering to whom you are speaking. Those who approach God based on their own holiness or who believe they can achieve holiness by their actions forget just how holy—other than—God truly is. They don’t think they need forgiveness, so forgiveness isn’t given. Those who humbly approach a holy God based on HIS mercy and grace find the forgiveness they so desperately seek. 

God doesn’t owe us forgiveness. He gives us forgiveness as we humbly ask based on the sacrifice of Christ—the Just for the unjust, the One who knew no sin and became sin itself for us. So what about you? Are you most like the Pharisee or the tax collector? Humbly confess and find mercy.