Faith Less

Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer.  His devotion and diligence to the practice of prayer is our example for our own prayer life.  In one of His lessons on prayer, Jesus spoke of the differences between two men who went into the temple to pray.  

               “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 18:10-14 ESV

This is the first of a two part message on prayer based on this passage.  For today, we will focus on the Pharisee.  

Pharisee's were church leaders.  They held high positions in the Jewish religion and were considered knowledgable men of God.  It was not uncommon for them to bring correction and to rule in all matters concerning the interpretation and application of the Levitical law.  To equate this to our terms of church leaders these are the deacons, the elders, the church staff, or the Pastor.

Let's begin by looking at how Jesus described this Pharisee’s praying - he was standing by himself.  This church leader was praying and God was not even included!  Now we may not admit it but I am sure we have all had those moments in prayer where we thought we were talking to God but because of the condition of our heart, He was no where near us.

Then notice that the Pharisee compared himself to others and even put down the man who came in the temple when he did while bragging about all the rituals he observed.  He was using His prayer time to be critical and judgmental.  How many time have we done the same thing?  

What strikes me the most about the Pharisee's prayer is that it is faith LESS.

Faith less prayer comes from your soul - your mind, your will, and your emotions.  It is demanding, rushed, and egotistical.  Faithless prayer is based on what you have decided is right and what you think should happen.  It relies on your abilities and your understanding.  There is no room for alternative ideas or solutions.  You have got it figured out and God just needs to do what you want.

Faithless prayer addresses God in the salutation but the main body of the prayer is you talking to you.  These are prayers in which we talk at God but not to Him.  We initially acknowledge His presence but carry on with our own conversation by ourselves.  

Pride is the foundation of faith less prayer.  We can be so caught up in our conformity to church standards or religious rituals that we fail to recognize the good in others.  Pride causes us to see only the faults of the people around us while we see only the good things about ourselves.  It uses excuses and self justification as masks to hide behind.  Thus making our "good deeds" not so good after all.  Anything done based on pride is useless.

Perhaps the greatest weakness of faith less prayer is the fact that it ignores and discounts the ability of God to intervene and make things right.  It is so full of self and pride that there is no room for God to move and change anything.  Faith less prayer discounts God's ability to influence the situation.  It actually stops Him from bringing about His perfect solution because it is closed off to anything but the desire of the person praying.

Faith less prayer does not produce life.  It is empty and meaningless.  It is powerless and ineffective.  It completely eliminates God out of the situation and actually results in death.

Faithless prayer changes nothing, improves nothing, and benefits no one.  

That's all for today.  God bless you until next time.
Heidirn