A prayer of the Bible
The Prayer of the Tax Collector
In a parable of Jesus · Luke 18:9-14
In Jesus' parable (Luke 18:9-14), a proud Pharisee thanks God he is not like other men, while a despised tax collector, unable even to look up, prays only 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' Jesus says it was the tax collector, not the religious man, who went home justified.
The prayer
The moment, and what it teaches
Two men go up to pray, and Jesus lets us hear both. The first is respectable, religious, genuinely moral; he thanks God that he is not like the thieves and adulterers, that he fasts and tithes. Every word is true, and every word is poison, because it is a prayer with no request in it, a resume read to God. The second man is a tax collector, the kind everyone despised, and he cannot even lift his eyes. He beats his chest and says six words: God be merciful to me a sinner.
Then Jesus delivers the verdict that reorders everything: it was the second man, not the first, who 'went down to his house justified.' Not the one with the record. The one with the request. The whole difference between the two prayers is the difference between presenting yourself to God and casting yourself on him. The shortest honest prayer in the Bible is also, Jesus says, the one that works.
One man read God his resume. The other asked for mercy. Only one went home right with God.
Pray it yourself
These prayers were not written to be admired from a distance. They were prayed by frightened, hoping, ordinary people, and the same God still listens. The Living Bread is a quiet place to pray, to be prayed for, and to learn to talk with God honestly, at your own pace.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the prayer of the tax collector?
- In Jesus' parable in Luke 18:13, a despised tax collector, unable to look up, beats his chest and prays, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' Jesus says this humble prayer, not the proud Pharisee's, sent the man home justified before God.
- What does this prayer teach about how to pray?
- That God receives the humble and honest, not the self-satisfied. The tax collector brought no record, only a request for mercy, and that is exactly what God answered. It models the simplest saving prayer: an honest plea for God's mercy.