Daily Prayer - God, have mercy on me, a sinner

Good Wednesday morning, my friends.

 

Do you ever have a period of time where things are going well - you haven't recently slipped back into that sinful habit; you are regularly spending time reading your Bible; you are taking part in a Bible study; and you are singing songs of worship in your head?  Don't you just feel in those times that God really hears your prayers?  

 

And then there are times where you "backslide"; where the old temptations are too difficult to resist; where you don't pick up your Bible from one week to the next; and some old Cher song is the only thing stuck in your head? You can't even bring yourself to pray because you know God is not listening to you.

 

With that in mind, read this familiar parable told by Jesus:

 

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 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. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

 

"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.'

 

"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)

 

Consider this Pharisee: He doesn't steal from his employer.  He doesn't cheat on his wife.  He fasts twice a week (when the law only required it once a year!).  He gives generously to his "church".  He is the guy you want to go to lunch with or have in your Bible study group!  And the despised tax collector does not so much as say he is sorry for all of the people he has ripped off, all of the money he has stolen for Rome, for being a traitor to his country.  He can't even lift his eyes.

 

I fall into the "Pharisee trap" all the time.  I get really proud of my humility.  But God isn't impressed one iota with my outward behaviour, with my "religion".  He is only concerned with where my heart is when I come to Him.  I have to remember to truly humble myself before entering His presence and to remember that nothing I have done has contributed to my salvation.

 

Conversely, if I (or you) are in that place where you don't feel you are "clean" enough to come to God, then we need to think again. We need to pray "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."  And allow His forgiveness, His righteousness, to wash over us.

 

 

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Bruce

 

 

Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to your loving kindness;

According to the multitude

of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

 

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness,

That the bones you have broken may rejoice.

Hide Your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

 

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted to You.

(Psalm 51:1-2,7-13)