The right way and the wrong way to pray

Today’s gospel reading from Luke is a familiar parable, that of the Pharisee and the tax collector who go to pray at the temple (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee’s prayer is actually a declaration of how he is “doing it right;” the tax collector is a hopeless sinner and simply asks for mercy. The Pharisee is a symbol of self-righteousness; the tax collector is a symbol of humility. They are complete opposites. 

The parable has more to say, however, than an instruction on self-knowledge.  There is no reason to doubt that the Pharisee is speaking truthfully. He probably really is faithful to his wife; he likely does not steal or lie. He gives by tithing and even fasts twice a week — these are not easy practices to keep, and all of them are very good. There are two problems, however. The first is that he is brimming over with pride: he is in love with his own excellence and clearly values it. The second is that he does not know how to pray. In all this time learning such good religious practices, how did he not learn how to pray? Prayer is conversation with God, as Saint John Damascene defines it. The Pharisee, as Jesus tells the parable, speaks his prayer “to himself,” even though he begins with the words, “O God…” He is convinced that he is talking to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and instead he is absorbed in himself and quite clueless about God. 

Compare this with the tax collector.  Tax collectors were commonly known as the dregs of society. First of all, they were regularly in contact with Gentiles and thus defiled themselves. Second, they worked for a foreign government (Rome) and were seen as traitors. Third, some of them purposely collected more than they should in order to pocket some extra cash. The tax collector in this parable was probably a scoundrel; there is no reason to think otherwise. Yet, God listens to his prayer, and the man goes home justified. Why? 

The first reading (Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18) gives us the key to understand this, and the second reading (2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18) provides an example. The first reading from Sirach teaches us the correct disposition in prayer. Disposition is both the mindset and the openness with which one goes into prayer. Sirach writes: “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal…” The Desert Fathers speak of prayer as throwing darts or javelins toward heaven, a similar image. The tax collector’s prayer, since it reached God, must have been the prayer of a lowly man.

The Lord Jesus confirms this because he says that the tax collector went home justified, in other words, set right with God. The Pharisee did not, precisely because he was just fine, or “set right” with himself 

Saint Paul saw himself that way once, too. In his letters, he writes about his theological pedigree more than once (he was a Pharisee, too). He brings it up only to say that it is worthless. What he thought made him righteous, the rigorous observance of the law, kept him from true salvation. When Jesus blinded him on the road to Damascus, Paul saw that true righteousness comes through faith in Christ. All the harsh zeal that was in him was transformed by Jesus’ mercy into a love for God he had never before experienced. 

Because of this, Paul’s prayer changed. From Pharisee and persecutor, he became the apostle to the Gentiles, and he could say with confidence those famous lines from today’s second reading, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day…”  Such trust springs from a humble heart formed in true prayer.