Hosea 5:15 - 6:6 / Luke 18:9-14
The one truth that we often forget is that we are no better than everyone else.
In other words, in the eyes of God, all are equal and He has no favourites.
Even if a person is granted gifts and talents, it is to be used to help others and to give glory to God.
In fact, the more the gifts and talents, the more service is required of that person.
So, even when we pray, it is not about how long our prayer is or how many words we put into our prayer.
And we will also remember that Jesus taught us that when we pray, we go into that secret room and pray there.
In the gospel, Jesus told a parable to some people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else.
Jesus used prayer as His teaching example, and how the Pharisee prayed and how the tax-collector prayed.
While one was a religious figure, the other was a despised as a public sinner.
But it was not the status of the person, or what was the content of the prayer, but the humility of the person in coming before the Lord in prayer.
So, let us remember that in prayer, in ministry, in service and in everything else in life, let us be humble and God will look upon us with love.