I often meet people facing difficult circumstances. New information can help us find solutions, and breathing in a good story fuels our fire within.
Find your favorite chair, couch, pillow, or hammock, and breathe in with me a new day,
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Find your favorite chair, couch, pillow, or hammock, and breathe in with me a new day,
:
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Mike | Founder & Director of Sandy Stories Ministries
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Good Morning,
Prayer is often misrepresented as a religious obligation, something we must do to earn God's approval. This is false.
Today's story will show you that prayer is nothing more but an expression of the human heart, which is the real difference maker in our relationship with God.
:
In the heat of the dry air and mid-day sun, at the gates of old Temple of Jerusalem, stood a rich man with education, status, and power.
"Thank you, Lord" he began to pray as he entered the Temple, "that I am not like the peasants and paper-shufflers of this city." For he had passed by a tax-collector, whose job was a miserable back-and-forth between the corrupt imperial authorities and a defiant citizenry, which believed it was sacrilegious to pay taxes to the pagan emperor, Caesar.
This tax-collector was too ashamed of himself to even enter the temple. He hated his job, and even more, he hated himself for the harshness with which he treated others. "Have mercy on me," he wept to God, "a sinner."
Jesus Christ shared this story with his followers to teach them the true meaning of prayer. That it is not about status before God, but about what was in the heart. For all men are under the same bondage to sin, and before God, none of us is righteous.
Prayer is often misrepresented as a religious obligation, something we must do to earn God's approval. This is false.
Today's story will show you that prayer is nothing more but an expression of the human heart, which is the real difference maker in our relationship with God.
:
In the heat of the dry air and mid-day sun, at the gates of old Temple of Jerusalem, stood a rich man with education, status, and power.
"Thank you, Lord" he began to pray as he entered the Temple, "that I am not like the peasants and paper-shufflers of this city." For he had passed by a tax-collector, whose job was a miserable back-and-forth between the corrupt imperial authorities and a defiant citizenry, which believed it was sacrilegious to pay taxes to the pagan emperor, Caesar.
This tax-collector was too ashamed of himself to even enter the temple. He hated his job, and even more, he hated himself for the harshness with which he treated others. "Have mercy on me," he wept to God, "a sinner."
Jesus Christ shared this story with his followers to teach them the true meaning of prayer. That it is not about status before God, but about what was in the heart. For all men are under the same bondage to sin, and before God, none of us is righteous.
