THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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unfitness, our unreadiness, is th e tru e explanation of why our prayers are not answered more quickly. These om itted verses suggest an in teresting question reg ard ing th e con dition of things upon th e ea rth when “ th e Son of Man com eth.” It. seems th a t “ faith ,” or, as th e R. V. m argin has it, “ the fa ith ” will be h ard to find. B u t we m u st no t touch on it here. II. The Two P ray-ers, w . 9-14. In th e sto ry of th e widow nothing was said abou t h er character, though th e Lord emphasized th e ch aracter of th e judge. H er praying was th e special point. Not w hat she was, b u t w hat she did, is w hat our Lord w anted us to see. In th is new passage our atten tio n to th e pray-ers as revealed by th e ir pray ers. The p rayers are simply th e self revelation of th e men who offered them . W hat each man said in his p ray er is im po rtan t only because of th e man who said it. 1. The P h arisee’s P ray er. I t came from a self-satisfied h eart. He did no t ask forgiveness, for he though t th a t his good works had more th a n balanced any sins he had done. He did no t ask fo r mercy, because he though t th a t all he needed was justice. He though t th a t as good a man as he was had no favors to ask even from God. God m u st be as well satisfied w ith him , he thought, as he was w ith h im s e lf., H is trouble was th a t he did not know God, nor did he know him self. The holiness of God had never gripped his soul, and n eith er had his own sinfulness. Unlike th e prodigal son, he had never come “ to him self.” He compared him self w ith “ o th er men,” and forgot to m easure him self by God’s stand ard . He prayed “w ith him self,” said our Lord. His p ray er never got above his own head. 2. The P ublican’s P ray er. W hat a con trast I The publican h ad no good ness of his own to rehearse, and so he begged for mercy. His downcast eyes, his hands sm iting his b reast, the very
tones of his voice all reveal a h e a rt broken fo r sin, sick of self, anxious for pardon and favor. This m an’s prayer was answered, our Lord says. I t is no t nearly so “ nice” a p ray er as the other, b u t it succeeded where th e other failed. He “went down to his house justified.” George Whitefield found th e colliers more reachable th a n th e clergy, for they had no righteousness of th e ir own to renounce. W hat does it teach us abou t prayer? T h at w hat is back of th e prayer is th e real prayer. Words do no t make a prayer. The most intense prayer spoken of in S cripture is too intense to be p u t into words a t all. See Romans 8:26. The sp irit in which we pray is fa r more im po rtan t th a n th e words we u tte r. When “ Old Jo h n ” th e d runk en Scotch fish peddler was saved, and his little daugh ter urged him to pray, all he could th in k of was to wave his old tam -o-shanter above his head two or th ree tim es and shou t “ th ree cheers for Je s u s ;” b u t th e angels up yonder said “ behold, he prayetji.” The pray-er is more im po rtan t th a n th e prayer. The closing parag raph of th is chap te r (Luke 18:35-43) fu rn ish from an actu al incident, no t a parable, a splen did illu stratio n of Jesu s’ teaching re g arding perseverance in prayer. I wonder if anybody h ad told Barti- maeus th e story of th e im portunate widow. “P ra y th rough .” How can we speak of th e h e a rt of th is lesson? How say anything com m ensurate w ith th e importance of the subject? Haye you ever no- HEART OF ticed th a t th e g reatest TELE LESSON things are th e sim- T. C. H o rton plest things? W hat can be sim pler th an faith, and yet faith is th e foundation
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