To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 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. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'”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.'”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.” Luke 18:9-14
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we know not how to pray. Romans 8:26 – In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
Isn’t it a blessing to know that God hears our heart when we are so filled with grief that we cannot even speak? He knows what we need, and says it for us! When we are so overcome with the pain in our life, or the pain in someone else’s we can simply pray, Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. I find this to be an immense amount of comfort.
In Christ,
Brian