This would be a great series for you to invite someone to join you. There are a handful of times during the year that people, who are not in the habit of attending worship services, are open to invitations to gather with others. These are times when non-church goers are thinking about making church part of their routine. Invite someone to join you!
As Jesus talked about prayer, He referred to good prayers and bad prayers. (See Luke 18) The interesting part of Jesus’ discussion surrounding these prayers is who prayed the good prayer, and who prayed the bad prayer. People are of the opinion that ‘good’ people pray good prayers and that ‘bad’ people pray bad prayers. This isn’t what Jesus taught.
In Jesus’ parable in Luke 18, He painted a picture of the ‘good’ person praying a bad prayer and the ‘bad’ person praying a good prayer. Go figure!
If we saw these two people praying, we would quickly make the assumption that Jesus heard and approved of the prayer of the ‘good’ guy and that he would have ignored and rejected the prayer of the ‘bad’ guy.
The good prayer by the bad guy was made up of only a few words, but it included a very powerful idea. He prayed: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
The word used for mercy in this prayer is not the normal word that is used for mercy. The word used here has the idea of atonement or paying for a debt. The bad man in Jesus’ parable was praying: “God, atone for me” or “God, pay my debt off for me.”
I can’t pay off my debt of the sin in my life. It is not possible. Not in this lifetime and not in a thousand lifetimes! I need a savior who will pay off my debt! That is the front end of the message of the Gospel.
The back end of the Gospel message is that Jesus is my debt payer. Through His life, death, burial and resurrection, He paid off my debt and your debt and their debt.
Which is better? A good person praying bad prayers or a bad person praying good prayers? Can a good person pray good prayers?
Something to chew on.
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