The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Luke 18:9-14 (New International Version)
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
In Jesus story above, the Pharisee's prayer was a self-serving proclamation of his own virtue and good works, an attempt to show off to God (vv. 11-12). That's why God heard the prayer of the humble and repentant man, but not that of the proud and self-righteous one.
Prayer: Lord never let me approach (help me to be conscious of how I approach) Your throne never self-serving of my own virtue or good works. Never let me approach Your throne to show off to God or anyone else. Justify your servant as I know You do by Your mercies as my attitude is contrite and repentant. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.