Daily Devotional For Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from the words of Jesus found in Luke 18:9-14. Luke gives us two ways we can pray and from this text I want to really focus on the second way as demonstrated by a tax collector in verse 13.
Many if not most people pray like the first man, a Pharisee in verse 11. The Pharisee was confident and prideful of his self-righteousness. What this passage reveals more than anything else is that our prayers really reveal what we think of ourselves. Two men went up to the Temple to pray. One was a pious religious Jewish Pharisee and the other a Roman tax collector. In that day, Jews despised tax collectors because they often overcharged on taxes so they could keep the excess for themselves (remember Zaccheus?). Rome did not care how much they extorted or stole as long as they in the end paid Rome what was finally due in taxes from the area they were responsible to collect taxes.
So, Jesus, which was His custom, tells this story to intentionally give a distinction that has a shock in it. Just like in yesterday’s devotional, only the Samaritan leper of the 10 lepers Jesus healed came back to thank Jesus. What is implied is that the other 9 lepers were probably Jewish but they did not come back to thank Jesus. Jews hearing this story would have been shocked that a despised Samaritan, not the descendants of Abraham, came to thank God for healing them. The same kind of shock is in our devotional today. Tax collectors were considered to be the scum of the universe in that day by the Jews because these were Jewish employees of Rome. They were considered to be traitors culturally and religiously.
Did you notice how full of himself this Pharisee was. He thanked God that he was not like the tax collector he saw praying at the Temple. There were 5, yes 5, uses of the personal pronoun “I” in his prayer. His prayer was more of a self-congratulatory prayer monologue than a prayer. The Greek New Testament text implies that the Pharisee really prayed to himself. This is how self-absorbed this Pharisee was.
In that day Pharisees prayed loudly at the temple. They wore their prayer articles for all to see. They wanted to be seen and noticed. The tax collector came with an attitude of humility. While the Pharisee is lifting his head towards heaven in pride, the tax collector refuses to do that. The tax collector does not compare himself to anyone. In fact, when he prayed, “Lord, be merciful to me for I am a sinner,” the article really is “Lord be merciful to me for I am THE sinner,” not “a sinner.” Jesus said it was the humble tax collector, not the self-righteous Pharisee that God justified. This would have been a shock to those hearing Jesus teach this. And in the last part of verse 14, Jesus concluded with this: “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (NLT).
What opposites stood in the temple at the hour of prayer. Both the scum and the cream of Hebrew society. One infamous for his sins, the other famous for his righteous lifestyle. One lowly, the other self-assured. Below is an anonymous prayer that illustrates this story.
“Two men went to pray; or rather say, One went to brag, the other to pray;
One stands up close, and treads on high, Where th’ other dare not send his eye.
One nearer to the altar trod, The other to the altar’s God.”
Reflection Assignment: What do your prayers reveal about you? Are any of your prayers laced with elements of self-righteousness? Do you in your prayer time see yourself and express in your prayer that you are THE sinner or as the Apostle Paul put it, “chief of all sinners”? How many personal pronouns such as “I” do you use in your prayers? Are your prayers more about yourself and what you want or about the Lord and what He wants? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: James 4:6, “And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I want my attitude in prayer to be like this humble tax collector rather than this self-righteous Pharisee. Please forgive me when I live and act as if I am better than someone else. I am THE sinner. I am the chief of all sinners. Thank You Lord for being merciful to me THE sinner. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly