The Humble Prayer God Can’t Resist | Luke 18:9–14

Show Notes

Episode 781: 
In this episode, Jeff and Chris dive into the theme of "prayers of intercession" as part of their ongoing series on dangerous prayers. They jump into the passage from Luke 18:9-14, which contrasts the humble prayer of a tax collector with the self-righteousness of a Pharisee. Jeff shares his excitement about this passage, noting its relevance and the lessons it imparts about humility and repentance. He emphasizes that Jesus often confronted religious leaders for their attitudes, which could hinder the kingdom of God.

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You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. It is Jeff. It is so good to be back. Yes, and Chris and Chris we are that's right, and we are welcoming you because we're through. We're the Bible guy. We are. We are the Bible Guys dot com. By the way, Okay, if you want to go check it out there there it is. Okay. So, hey, today, Jeff, we are in a series about dangerous prayers. Of course, yes, but this week we are starting a theme called prayers of intercession. Yeah great, Yeah, So. What does the intercession me to intercede, to pray on behalf of others, or to to to appeal to God for care and intervention. Yes, yes, And so anyway, we're gonna start out with a segment that that Desiree has given to us before, but she put a little twist on it today. She's calling it theological taboo. Oh okay, yeah, theological taboos things were not allowed to talk about in theology. That's what it sounds like. That's what sounds but no, that's not it. It's the game of taboo using theological terms. Okay, so it is Chris has to describe a bibble concept without using five forbidden words. So if you're watching as opposed to just listening, hopefully we're gonna put these five words on the screen for you and then maybe that people can race to see if they could get it. Okay, you can't, Okay, So I have to guess the theological concept, yes, okay. And do you think that you're better than all our listeners? I don't know. I don't know, all right, depends okay, Yeah, here we go. Okay, g whiz. Okay. What is the longest talk called given by our Savior? No, sermon on the mountain? Boom baby boom, Yes, I am. I was not allowed to say Jesus Mountain, beatitudes, disciples or Matthew. Yeah, so I said, I said, I said talk and Savior. Yes, right, that's pretty savor. That's right. Okay, all right, and we only have one more. Okay, man, that was awesome. Good, I have one more. Yeah, I'm feeling good about this. Okay, here we go. By the way, do you do you think that our people are listening? They knew do they do? They know that absolutely? Well, the ones that have been listening to the Bible, guys, we've talked about the Sermon on the Mountain three times. Oh yeah, yeah. So these people, the longtimers, they're prepared. Yes, yes, don't give them more credit. Chris, that's right, that's right. Well, maybe there's new people. All right, here we go this next one. Oh, jew wiz. Okay, all right, here we go. A fancy word for humanity and God coming together. A fancy word for humanity and God coming together. Uh, it's not reconciliation, okay, but it's it's redemption. Yeah. It happens through the the uh oh positive of our savior. The whole positive blood atonement. Yes, that's awesome. The positive you're just assuming, I'm just assuming. Actually, oh, negative would have been more appropriate because that's the universe of blood. Yeah. Oh that's so funny. So the atonement right where Jesus paid the price with his blood. Yes, I wasn't about to say sin Jesus blood sacrifice or Christ. That was great, Chris, thank you sir. Well there you go. Yep. All right, So serving on the mount and atonements. Yes, so that's what were you allowed to say theological uh well or doctrinal Yeah I I I yeah, you could have said that. Yeah yeah, yep, well I mean it was it is called theological taboo. I thought that was a givet okay. So that's fun, all right, there you go, and the King of the World. Yeah, hey, you know what us is fun? The tax Collector's humble cry contracted with the Pharisees pride. Okay, because that's fun. That's the title of the Desert gave us. Okay, that's that's the title. That's fun. All right, that is that's going to be fun. Well in Luke chapter eighteen. Because you've been out for a spell, yes, you know, and we have maybe a few extra minutes because that was a quick segment. Maybe give us an update as to what you've been doing across the country. Just taking naps. Yeah, no, Well where have I been, so, I guess around the world. Yeah, yeah, I was in Mexico, yep, working with some church planters down there. There's a tremendous new church planting movement that's beginning in Mexico. It's just phenomenal. And so we were in Mexico City and the surrounding areas, and then I was home for a day and preached on Sunday, yep. And then went to Egypt and we are working with some disciple makers there and introduced the idea to about eighty new pastors that are looking to launch in the next year. And so we're thinking this is going to be hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of people that will be being trained as a result. So we're so excited about that. And then I had just my wife went with me and we went with a board member and his wife and so we ran around Egypt for a few days. And that's just did all the things work hard, play hard? Yeah. Yeah. So we went and saw King Tut's tomb and King Tuts in the tomb, you know, and we we did a bunch of hikes and saw Stella's and we saw the pyramids, and we rowed a boat on the Nile River and all that kind of stuff. So want to get to go on the pyramid? Yeah yeah, yeah. And then we also took a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. Yeah yeah, we did a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. It was pretty good. So yeah, that was pretty neat. It was. It was great, and we stayed. You know what we did is we stayed in three hotels, one in Oswan, one in Luxor, and one in Cairo, all three of them. Howard Carter, he's the discoverer of King tut He stayed in those. Winston Churchill stayed in those hotels, and so did Agatha Christie in Aswan. Old Cataract Hotel is where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile and so they were these old, classic nineteen thirties colonial type hotels were phenomenal. That was so much fun. So yeah, that's what we did. And then I got back preached six times over the weekend. Yeah, because we just launched new Saturday services. Yes, and then I had to go to a board meeting in Raleigh yesterday today or last two days. So yeah, yeah, it's good to be back. It's it's been I've been gone thirty five out of the last forty five days. That is crazy. I know it's been brutal, but this is the end. It's just how it all stacked up. You know, our little vacation thing kind of got squeezed between a bunch of other ministry trips. So yeah, yeah, it's good, but it's good to be back. Yeah. So with Kyle, which was I guess two weeks ago, I was trying to reference the timoth the initiative website. We were making jokes because I never looked it up. Oh. I was like, t TI dot com and he goes, is that what it is? And like, I don't know what is it? T t I online? Oh, t online dot org, dot org. Okay, it's the worst. There's almost every almost every letter combination has been bought up, and then it's worth thousands of dollars, you know, to be able to buy those. So yeah, t t I online dot org. That's what we are. Okay, very good, all right, very cool. So hey, that is our time for that segment and update obviously, so let us move on to Luke Chapter eighteen, verses nine through fourteen. So this is one of my favorite passages. If you were wondering, that's hilarious because I think it's kind of you and me praying in the temple is how this goes? By the way, when you said that on Sunday, Wilson was listening to the eight thirty service because he spoke at Stony, which is two of our campuses, and and you were giving me a hard time. You're like, it's because I love the Bible. Chris. Yeah, he's a Chris doesn't love the Bible. And Wilson was feeling for me on the other end. He goes, stop making fun of Chris, and I was like, and he goes, he goes. He was like, he did like one comment too many, and I go, I go, dude, I go listen to the Bible, guys. It's always one comment to you. Yeah, I said, listen to the Bible, guys. I guess is like a regular thing. Yeah, so our listeners may not know this. About ten years ago, you did a roast for me before he ever came on. So Mercy, and it's still one of the best things I've ever done. It was twenty eight minutes of full on brutality, right, which which I love roasts anyways. Yeah, but that was that was hot. But the idea of a roast is you tell a shocking joke and then you up it, and then you go where nobody believes you're going to go, right, So it's like three levels. So it's always one or two jokes too many. Yeah, it's just the nature of our friendship. You think I accomplish that, Oh you sure did. I'm still sore from it. It's just body blow after body bar ten years ago. It was so fun, But that's kind of the nature of our friendship. Is just one maybe one joke too many. Most of the time. So that's funny. Anyways, here we go and Matthew eighteen verse nine, it says, then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else. Oh wow, here's what it says. Two men went to the temple to pray, and one was a pharisee and the other was a despised tax collector. The pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer. I thank you God that I'm not like other people cheaters and sinners and adulterers. I'm certainly not like that tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income. But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to Heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest and sorrow, saying, Oh God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner. I tell you this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. That's one of the coolest stories Jesus told. Yeah I believe, so, yeah, I believe. So. By the way, are you reading NIV. I was reading n LT. Are you sure about that? M m yes, Well that is not what lines up for me, and this is NLT. Okay, So look, so it's probably a different revision, so that they've updated the NLT a couple of times. Okay, yeah, what is your say? Like? For instance, look at like verse eleven, it says the pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer. I thank you God that I am not a sinner like everyone else. Oh wo. For I don't cheat, I don't sin, and I don't commit adultery. I'm certainly not like that text collector. Okay, yeah, yeah, wow, Okay, So it's probably the difference between the version the revision you have and the revision I have. Huh. They revised it a couple of times for readability. Okay, yeah, okay. So either way, the translation is extremely close and I wonder which version was on the screen. I don't know. But anyway, this this is a it's an interesting thing I think when when you think about like some of the only I don't want to categorize it just to Pharisees, it's it's it's like, it's like one of the major things that Jesus focused on was how religious people can hinder the Kingdom of God. Right, it was like it was like like religiosity or self righteousness, thinking that you're you know, and and by the way, even well intentioned people, right, don't you because you give I've made this comment before. You you give the Pharisees more credit than I do. And you said, hey, they're only doing what they were taught was right, right, Like they they were believing that they were doing good right, and. So they were mastering what they were told was the right way to live. Right. And so whereas I'm just like I think that you know, they I see them more as abusive sort of people. But either way, you know, because you know, Jesus did say, you know bunch of times. But uh, and obviously you know I have a angst against people religious abusive people. But anyway, the bottom line is it doesn't matter. The point is is that Jesus spent his time uncovering even well intentioned people who who can sort of leverage religiosity or the rules, trying to do what's right in a bad way. Yeah, and and uh and and and he and he often did it. I would I would argue and say it was the thing that he sort of did the most right, Like he sort of preached against that idea, maybe more than any other idea. Well, he confronted them more than he confronted anybody else. I think he preached more about the Kingdom of God than he did about bad guys. No, no, no, I'm not. I'm not saying I'm not talking about this good stuff. I'm talking about the thing that he stuffs. Yeah yeah, yeah against Yeah yeah. He points out that these guys aren't aren't great. So here's the thing. The Pharisees were one group. It would be like Republicans and Democrats. It would be like Baptists and Methodists, it would be Catholics and Lutherans kind of a thing. There were Pharisees, and there were Sadducees, and then you had the priests. The Saducees were sad. Yeah, because they didn't believe in a resurrection. They didn't believe in resurrection or miracles. So what you had is you had the Pharisees that believed in the importance of the law and of keeping every element of the law, and they were looking forward to eternity. The Sadducees didn't believe in eternity, and they felt like the faith of their people was more about connecting with God and making your life better here on earth and maintaining their cultural identity, right, those are two big things. And so they made up sort of the religious rabbi class, the teacher class, and then you had the priests who made up the priestly class. And then what you had in the Sanhedron, which was their supreme court. You had a mix of the priestly class and then these rabbi class. They would then be voted onto their supreme court. So the reality is a generic Pharisee didn't have a lot of power. So people say, oh, they were so abusive. Some were. They just had a lot of influence. Different between power and influence. Their influence was oh, shame on you, right, you should be more like us, and they go snap slap people on the wrist and that kind of thing. But it was so oppression. I don't know that it was there, just shame. They were like the shame class. They were the group. They just wanted to say, shame on you, shame on you, shame and you you should be more like us. And I think that that's where Jesus got frustrated with them. They were tithing ten percent of his incomes, the right thing to do, right, Jesus says, at one point, you tie even on your table Dylan, Yeah yeah, yeah, spicy, yes, cinnamon and all that kind of stuff, all your spicy, your table spices, he says, And you should just don't forget the bigger things of God's loss. The weightier matter. Yeah yeah. And so Jesus commends them on occasion for the lifestyle. He always judges them for the attitude. That's it. He never says, oh you should you know, you shouldn't be so holy. He never says you shouldn't be so pure. He never says that. So he does not tear down their holiness. He tears down their attitude about it. Look how good I am? Like somehow they they're earning their way to heaven. And so that's the lesson that you're getting here. He's not mad at this guy over the fact that he's not a cheater, not a public center, not an adulterer, and that he's a tier. Jesus isn't madam about that thing. Right, So you never find Jesus tearing them down for the lifestyle. He tears them down. He goes after them over their attitude that they're somehow superior than other people. Yeah. Well, I mean that's how it starts, doesn't that right. It actually says Jesus told this story to a group of people who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everybody else. And that's really the abuse that I'm talking about. It's the it's the scorning of it. And and uh, which is the dud between you and me? So I you have wu right. So so for our listeners and strengths finders for personality types, yeah right. Which, by the way, we have a lot of the same stuff. Yeah we do. Almost all of them are the same. There is a difference, and the one is so winning others over the the human connection between you. It's why people love you so much, is you make this really deep human some most most people love you, Okay, I'll take it. Yeah, yeah, And it's because you make this deep human connection. And so I think that there's a lot of empathy and all those things in you. I have self assurance, so the wu you win others over, but you also really want people to like you, right, that that's a big part of it. Whereas I have self assurance, and so I'm not needing people to like me, or don't even really care if they like me. I just need them to do what they need to do. And so I think that that's probably the difference in the way that we view the Pharisees. This idea. In my mind, scorning somebody, I don't care. I don't give a rip if you scorn me. What do I care what you think about me? Right? Whereas I think you're way more in tune with most people. I think you're so much more in tune with from an empathetic standpoint of the weight and the embarrassment of being scorned, especially because they're highlighting the fact that, look, how great I am, meaning that text collector guy probably does cheat, and that text collector guy doesn't fast, so he knows what he should be doing, he's not doing it, and he knows what he's not supposed to do and he is doing it. But look how good I am. Oh, look how bad you are? Right? Yeah, And I think it's just the big empathy empathy that you have that just makes you resent that attitude so much more. I think everything you're saying is true. But the reason why I'm mad is not the emotional part of in the moment, actually not even close that maybe five percent of it. Ninety five percent of it are the spiritual implications and the damage that it does. Right. So, like I told that story when you were gone, you were out of town, and I said, I said to Kyle, and you already know the story, I said, I said. One of the worst stories I've ever heard in my entire life, ever, is is a story that one of our staff members said that her pastor was by the door and some kid came up with long hair in the seventies and and he said, you're not coming into my church with that hair. With that hair, he goes go get a haircut, come back, I said, I said, for all for all that pastors, that guy could have walked away and and spend eternity in hell because of him, right, So that is ninety five percent why I get agree. So there is a difference though, between what the Pharisees were trying to accomplish and what Christian pastors are supposed to accomplishing. Pharisees weren't Christians, right, So they were trying to keep the temple holy, they were trying to keep society holy. They're their purpose was different from what a Christian pastor's issue should be, right, So. Which makes me twice as mad of the pharaceutical Christians today. Yeah, well, that's where it really gets is when you take what is a person who's saved by grace who's still trying to apply phariseical principles. I think the Pharisees, we're doing what the Pharisees are supposed to do, it just had a bad attitude about it. Whereas now what we have is we have a lot of Christians who also want to apply phariseical pressure and scorn on other people when we're all just sinners saved by Grace. Right, So that's not a license to keep going and sinning, right, right, we should be fasting. We're going to talk about that in a couple of weeks. Yes, right here to church. We should be tithing. We we shouldn't be cheaters, we shouldn't be committing adultery, we shouldn't be living in public sin, those things we shouldn't be doing. It's just we shouldn't be prideful about the fact that we're so good about you know, so good. Yeah, and look down on people who are struggling. So Jesus says in another place, the church is a hospital for sinners. Right right, not a health club for saints. Yeah, or a museum for saints. Yeah, yeah, a museum museums good. Yeah. The uh I love the idea that this guy who's a tax collector recognizes uh all you know the Adit it encapsulates the attitude that is encouraging to us. Like God encourages us to be humble, He encourages us to recognize our depravity, encourages us to recognize He is God. We are not. If he is I am, that makes us I am not right, it's it's the idea that great. Oh that's deep, Chris, is that I am then. To be honest. And that wasn't my original thought. That's Luke Giglio. But The whole point is is that, uh, uh, you know, here's this guy, he's he's uh you know. Obviously tax collectors were despised because they were Jewish people who are betraying their own kind for wealth, right, working for the Romans. And so here's this guy who's despised by just about everybody. But he knows it, and he knows that he's not, you know, a good person, and so therefore he walks out. What does Jesus say? He says, he walked out. I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. So true repentance. Right. So so again you're right, God's not encouraging tax collector behavior. Right, But God is saying, hey, guess what when it comes down to repentance, self righteousness over true repentance, the true repentance is is the is the answer. Nailed it? He nailed it. Yep, well you nailed it. So here's the note in the Life Application Study Bible, which which I love. It says the Pharisee went to the temple not to pray to God, but to announce to all within earshot how good he was. Right, So even even a level up right. Yeah, hey everybody, just so you know, thanks you that I'm so good. It's right. It says the pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer, right, and he prays it out loud so he can hear it. And then it says the tax collector went recognizing his sin and begging from mercy. So the tax collector was not saying was not expecting God to just overlook his sin. He was begging for mercy for his sin. He beats himself on the chest. He doesn't even dare to look lift his eyes to heaven, and he says, instead, Oh, God, be merciful to me, for I'm a sinner. He's confessing his sin there, and so it says self righteousness is dangerous. It leads to pride, causes a person to despise others, and prevents that person from learning anything from God. The tax collector's prayer should be our prayer because we all need God's mercy every day. Don't let pride in your achievements cut you off from God, all right, So that's really the He's not making a determination or a point about their lifestyles. He's making a point about their intent with how they're engaging with God. The pharisee thinks, I deserve to be recognized by God because I've been working really hard at being a good boy. And the tax collector just beats his chest and says, God, have mercy. I mean, I have no hope if you don't give me mercy. Right, And that is I think the real essence of repentance is and repentance is necessary for salvation. Peter says, right, and Paul, both of them talk about this idea of repenting turning from our sin. We were going our own way, and we have to turn from our sins. So it's interesting a religious guy actually winds up going his own way. Look how good I am, and he never gets justified by God, he never gets forgiveness. And the sinner comes and he repents and says, have mercy on me because I'm such a sinner. And Jesus says, that's the guy who left justified. That's the guy. The word justified literally means God makes us just as if I'd never sinned, right, That's what it means. So the good guy leaves still dirty on the inside. The bad guy leaves made just as if he'd never sinned. Yeah, and that's a definition of grace. It's the unmerited favor of God. So it's so powerful, man, Yeah, it's super powerful. So hey, just one last note before we sign off, and that is if you're a person who feels like you're unworthy, then you're in good company because all of us are sinners. And so if we just have a true repentant heart, we too can get mercy and grace from God if we just turn away from our sins. Yeah. The prayer of this this tax collector, Oh God be merciful to me for I'm a sinner. It's great place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Well, that's our time, so hey, we will see you hopefully tomorrow on the Bible. Guys,