The Posture God Hears: Prayer That Starts With Humility

Jan 6

What if the biggest obstacle to your prayer life isn’t distraction, but posture? Jesus’ parable in Luke (chapter 18 verses 10 through 14) exposes how comparison and self-righteousness hollow out prayer, and why mercy is where real prayer begins.

10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 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!’ 14 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.”

The Gift of the Right Prayer Posture

Properly understood, prayer is an aggressive act. We often don’t think of it that way, but when we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), we’re praying to displace and uproot temporal kingdoms as well as human will, replacing them with the will of God and the ushering forth of His kingdom. The Lord’s Prayer itself implies a sense of hostility between two kingdoms.

Jesus taught us how to pray in many places. When He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7), He signified that you, as a believer, are not a passive participant in the kingdom of God. When we study the prayers of the New Testament, we find that the majority are expressed on a war footing in God’s kingdom.

The author Chris Tiegreen wrote:

“Somehow we’ve gotten the wrong impression that the tone of the Bible is calm and sedate. We often hear the voice of God in Scripture as a deep baritone in a refined British accent. Centuries of King James formality and decades of cinematic artistry have conditioned us to assume civility in all biblical conversations. But God is not a baritone, and Jesus’ disciples were not British actors. The voices of the Bible range from boisterous shouts to gentle whispers, filled with excitement, agony, rage, despair, and wild celebration—sometimes in embarrassing extremes.”

Two Men at Prayer: Deceptions to Guard Against

Jesus told a parable to some who trusted in themselves as righteous and treated others with contempt (Luke 18:9). See His story:

“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

From this parable, we can learn a few deceptions to guard against.

Deception Through Comparison

The Pharisee prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people.” He’s using humans as his standard of righteousness. The statement is wildly inaccurate, and what makes it more deceptive is that it’s a spiritualized inaccuracy. If we compare ourselves with others, we’ll always find somebody who is worse. This is a deceptive way to come before God’s throne.

Deception Through Self-Righteousness

The Pharisee prays, “I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all I get.” No less than five times, he uses the word “I.” It’s very clear he’s trusting in himself and his own righteousness. Most of us understand biblically that one cannot trust oneself to maintain a standard of righteousness before a holy God.

The Root Issue: Contempt

Verse nine explains not only what Jesus did in sharing this parable but why He shared it: “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”

Let’s define contempt: The feeling that a person or thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.

Years ago, there was an Iraqi war veteran in our church who had been exposed to chemical agents and suffered from it. He abused alcohol at times, and we labored to minister to him. At a men’s conference, he got on the bus inebriated, and I was unaware of it. When we arrived, someone from the host church came to me and said, “So tell me, what are you running? A recovery ministry?”

I paused, thinking, “Jesus, how would you respond?” I looked at him and said, “Why, yes, I am. We are running a recovery ministry.”

I was mindful that I was being addressed in a spirit of contempt, looked down upon simply because there was a person among us who was struggling. Jesus talks about those who trust in themselves, believing they are righteous, and treat others with contempt. That vulnerability exists in me, and it exists in all of us as fallen human beings.

The Tax Collector’s Posture

“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!’” Luke 18:13

There are symptoms showing up that personify this reality:

He recognized he was unworthy. He stood far off. He was unworthy to get near. He would not lift his eyes to heaven. This is not rooted in shame but in reverence for a holy and mighty God. In reality, ultimately, none of us is worthy. But this brother recognized that.
He was repentant. The phrase “beat his breast” refers to a posture of repentance before God. At Jesus’ crucifixion, Luke 23:48 says, “All the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.” They were repenting, feeling grief and disappointment. It’s an expression usually figurative, an idiom meaning to display one’s grief, remorse, and repentance in a loud and demonstrative manner.
He recognized he was a sinner. He’s saying, “If there ever was a sinner, I am one.” He’s owning it, coming before the throne of God honestly, real, transparently.
He asked for God’s mercy. Mercy is when we do not get what we deserve. He recognizes he deserves the judgment of God. However, he’s saying, “God, be merciful to me.”

When you come before God in repentance, recognizing you’re a sinner and asking for God’s mercy, this empowers your prayer life.

How Prayer Becomes Powerful

Have you ever attempted to use a vending machine that doesn’t work? You put the money in, but nothing comes out. You get frustrated. For some, that’s a picture of your prayer life; you’ve brought things to God, but nothing seems to be happening.

It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not the way God designed prayer.

Imagine someone puts $1 billion in your bank account. But there’s one provision: you cannot access the money electronically. The only way to access the account is to write a check—old school.

When it comes to prayer and a God who has infinite ability, you’ve got to go old school. And the way you go old school is to listen to what God teaches us about prayer.

Conditions for Powerful Prayer

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). Notice the conditional clause there: “if.” Notice how it parallels what’s happening with the tax collector in the story. He came before God not regarding iniquity or the sin in his heart, and he’s not holding on to it. Instead, he declared, “God, I repent. I’m a sinner, and I recognize I’ve missed the mark. I ask you for mercy.”

The psalmist tells us that if that prayer has conditions, such as when we regard sin and cling to it, or when we refuse to confess and ask God’s mercy, then our prayer life shuts down and it’s ineffective.

This is a message that’s all over Scripture.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 (Note the conditional clause.)

Or think about the condition Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer. Many people in Christian history would say we shouldn’t stop praying the Lord’s Prayer at verse 13, but we should also pray verses 14 and 15.

In the Lord’s Prayer, we’re taught to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Jesus added for greater emphasis: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).

It’s conditional.

What we see in the tax collector is that he’s not regarding iniquity in his own heart. He’s letting go and letting God by coming before God in a spirit of repentance. He’s coming before God, admitting and owning the reality that he, too, is a sinner, and trusting in His mercy.

The Contrast Between the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Notice the contrast: The Pharisee talks to himself about himself as he thinks he’s praying. But the tax collector prays to God, and he was heard. That changes everything.

The Pharisee could see the sins of others but not his own. The tax collector focused on his own needs and openly admitted them before God.
The Pharisee was boasting. The tax collector was praying.
The Pharisee went home a worse man than when he had come. The tax collector went home forgiven and free.
The Pharisee was using other people as his standard of righteousness. The tax collector used God as his standard of righteousness.

The one qualification for salvation is to know that you’re a sinner in need of a Savior. The tax collector realized he had to throw himself on the mercy of God for forgiveness. The Pharisee was not seeking to be justified before God because he couldn’t see that he had any need to be justified.

The person who thinks of himself as righteous never gets in line before the gate of mercy. The tax collector gets in line, receives, and knows new life. Therefore, his prayers are heard while the Pharisee’s prayers are hindered.

Justified

“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 18:14

That word “justified” is a powerful New Testament word. It means to be declared righteous. It’s a legal term meaning the evidence of all past sins has been destroyed, and there is no record that we have ever sinned.

That’s the power of what God does in Jesus Christ when a person turns to Christ in faith, in repentance, acknowledging they are a sinner and their need for the mercy of God. God keeps no record of one’s sins.

Psalm 32:1-2 shares, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.” Part of that blessing and favor is that that person’s prayer life has been empowered. God hears them when they’re interceding. He puts into our account the righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself.

“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

All this comes from the mercy of God, not by our own merits, as we’re justified by faith in the person of Jesus Christ. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Another way of translating that: Because you are at peace with God, you have access to God—nothing in my hands I bring. Only to the cross I cling.

Believe God for Big Things

As we close, I want to challenge you individually and in your local congregation.

At times, our problem when we posture our hearts rightly before God in prayer is that we fail to believe God for big things. We don’t serve a little God. A lady in a church once said, “Pastor, I only pray to God about big things, not little things.” To which I quickly said, “To God, everything’s a little thing. He is God.”

Be reminded and encouraged by that. I want to edify you in the Lord: Believe Him for big things. He is a big God.

Everywhere you look, there are people carrying burdens. There are problems and complexities infinitely bigger than who we are as individuals. There are families with children and grandchildren who are far from God that He desires to bring home.

Our prayer is that we, individually and collectively, as a faith family, would posture our lives as prayer warriors like never before. May we witness temporal things, human things, become uprooted and displaced and replaced by the kingdom of God for the glory of God.

The tax collector prayed seven words: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

He went home justified. That’s the power of the right prayer posture.

TL;DR

Jesus contrasts two prayer postures: self-focused “I” prayer vs. God-focused mercy prayer.
The Pharisee’s spiritual danger isn’t obvious sin—it’s comparison and contempt that feel “religious.”
The tax collector’s posture is not shame-soaked self-hatred, but reverent humility and honest repentance.
The prayer God receives is simple: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Jesus’ shock ending: the humble man goes home justified—declared righteous by God’s mercy, not his merits.