What Our Praying Says About Us

On one occasion, Jesus spoke a parable against those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others” (Luke 18:9). The parable depicted a Pharisee and a publican. In his prayer the Pharisee made himself quite transparent (Luke 18:11-12). The publican also revealed a lot about himself by his posture and words.

He “would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!'” (Luke 18:13).

Had we been at this scene when both men were praying, we would have observed the same things Jesus taught — not by omniscience, but by merely observing their behavior.

How much we reveal about ourselves in our praying! For example, we may habitually utter the same phrases and words we always have without any thought or feeling, or we may speak flowery praises to impress men (Matthew 6:7).

Jesus offers an effective solution — enter into our closet and pray to God "in secret" (Matthew 6:6). This was not a prohibition against praying in public, but simply a prohibition against praying with a desire to be seen of men (Matthew 6:5).

If we act differently when we are leading a public prayer than when we pray in private, our prayer becomes a means to self-glorification rather than effectively communicating with God.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets