Praying to yourself, because God's not listening.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector [Luke 18:9-14]

Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men--extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers--or even like this tax collector here.

I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain.

But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am!

I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

When you feel like you are good enough to speak to God Almighty even though you are filled with sin in your life, you are actually lifting yourself higher than what you really are... a sinner. As a sinner, the only prayer that the Lord God is going to listen to is the prayer of repentance. This is when you humble yourself, recognize your sinful ways, and ask the Lord for mercy with the sincere intention to change your ways. That's when God will listen to you, and that's when he will change your life.

Just a thought..

All those who say you pray to God yet live as sinners do.. i really wonder sometimes if you know that you are only praying to yourself.