Two Approaches to Prayer

April 25

Here in Luke 18:1-14, Jesus tells two parables concerning prayer.

In the first, He said that a woman approached an unrighteous judge, begging him to grant her justice against her adversary. This man was a terrible judge. There was no fear of God or respect for people in him, and Jesus offered no further information about her adversary. None of this matters, though. The first takeaway is the need for persistence in prayer.

A second takeaway, and a critical difference between the woman’s relentless appeals to the unrighteous judge and our appeal to the righteous God, is that God is our Father. A loving father responds differently—than anyone else—to his child’s request. Because of our Father’s nature, we don’t have to beg and beg and beg.

Jesus, in contrasting the Pharisees’ approach to prayer in Matthew 6:8, tells His disciples that God isn’t impressed by how many words we use. He says, “Don’t be like them because your Father knows what you need before you ask.” Wow! What a privilege to be able to approach our loving Father with the assurance that He already knows what we need! As if that wasn’t enough, Paul adds that God is able to do above and beyond what we ask or even think! (Ephesians 3:20)

In Matthew 7, Jesus told His disciples to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. He promises that those who do so will receive, find, and see doors opened. He promises. But, like the persistent widow in Luke 18, we must persist in prayer, fully commiting ourselves to our requests.

We have seen before that God always answers our prayers, though not necessarily with a “yes” and not necessarily in the way and timing we want. Oftentimes, God withholds His answer in order to bring our requests in line with His will and timing. But the wait is to change us—not Him. God never changes! (Hebrews 13:8)

In today’s second parable, two men go to the Temple to pray: One is a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Remember that Jesus’ culture was very different from ours. Tax collectors were not like IRS agents in the United States.

As we saw in Matthew 6, the Pharisees mistakenly thought that God would answer their requests because of their lengthy prayers. Actually, their behavior reveals how little they knew about prayer and the nature of God. Jesus said in Matthew 6 that if someone tries to impress other people with their prayers, gifts, and fasting, then that’s all the recognition they will have: the recognition of people. There it is: we can be recognized by people or God, but not both.

The Pharisee in this parable is haughty, arrogant… so full of himself! He prays, thanking God that he isn’t like other people, especially like the tax collector. He brags of his religious activity, as if God would reward him for his pretentious, public displays of religion.

First century tax collectors knew that they were despised by the people because of their behavior. We know from the gospel accounts that they lined their pockets with additional “convenience fees.” That’s why when tax collectors approached John the Baptizer, asking how they should respond in repentance, he told them to take no more than they were authorized. (Luke 3:12–13)

As this man prayed, he humbled himself. Utterly broken over his sin and sinful condition, he beat his chest, grieving before the holy and righteous God and called out for mercy. Jesus’ conclusion was clear and simple: He said that this man, the humble man—not the Pharisee—went away justified by God.

How about you? Do you think God will think more of you because of the way you pray in comparison with others?

In these parables, Jesus tells us to humbly approach our loving Father with our needs. He reminds us that God already knows what we need, and that He is more than willing to honor our requests in His timing and His way. Yes, we need to be persistent, but make no mistake: God hears His children when we pray an every time we pray!

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman