A Widow, a Pharisee, and a Tax Collector

My title this week may sound like the beginning of a bad joke, but it's actually the beginning of a lesson on prayer. When I think of Jesus' teaching about prayer, my mind goes to Matthew 6 where we find the "Lord's Prayer." But my reading this week led me through Luke 18:1-14, where again Jesus teaches about prayer, this time through two powerful parables.

First, we learn from a widow. "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." There was a widow who kept asking an ungodly judge for justice. For a while, he ignored her but eventually gave in just to stop her pestering. Jesus then asks, "And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily."

Then, we learn from a Pharisee and a tax collector. "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt." The Pharisee prays, "'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."

So, this week please pray:

• Jesus, help us pray day and night, and not lose heart, trusting that you will not delay one second longer than is necessary for the good things we ask.
• God forgive us for trusting in ourselves and looking down on others. This causes us not to pray—or even shows up in self-righteous prayers!
• We humble ourselves again, thanking you for your mercy and forgiveness.
• May we bring this heart into everything we do and everything the PrayMore team does this week.
• Lord, we praise you for major accomplishments in the July Release:
  • Group admins can now generate one-time links and QR codes to invite people to join their prayer lists.
  • We've made several updates to "Emergency Requests," which are now called "Urgent Requests." These still send push notifications to encourage prayer, but now also allow people to set emotions, scripture, and contact preferences for the request.
  • Various bug fixes and performance improvements.