A Prayer for Mercy, the Grace of Restoration
Joel 2:23–32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18; Luke 18:9–14
Today’s message asks two questions: What is true prayer, and what kind of heart does God receive?
And further, how does God’s restoring grace come into our lives when we pray?
In today’s Gospel, two men went up to the temple to pray, a Pharisee and a tax collector. They stood
in the same place, yet their hearts were completely different.
The Pharisee was a respected religious man. He kept the law strictly, fasted twice a week, and gave a
tenth of all his income. His discipline was sincere. But when he prayed, he said:
“God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax
collector.”
The problem was not his actions themselves but his heart behind them. He spoke words of gratitude,
yet deep down he was boasting about himself. His thanksgiving did not recognize grace—it was a
declaration of self-righteousness.
The tax collector, on the other hand, worked for the Roman Empire collecting taxes. Because he
served a foreign power and often dealt with Gentiles, people saw him as unclean. Tax collectors were
also known for corruption, since they could take more than required and keep the extra. For this
reason, he was despised as a betrayer of his people.
Standing far off in the temple, he could not even lift his eyes to heaven. He beat his chest and prayed:
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Beating one’s breast was a sign of deep sorrow and repentance. He did not hide his sin but stood
before God just as he was.
Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt
themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Righteousness is not achieved by our merit. It is God’s gift to those who ask for mercy with a humble
heart. Humility is not simply lowering oneself, it is making room for God to enter.
Why was the tax collector declared righteous? Because God first shows grace to those who cannot
stand by their own strength, to those who seek Him even amid sin and brokenness. The tax collector
knew his place within that grace.
God always takes the first step. Through His mercy, He opens our closed hearts and leads us toward
restoration.
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The book of Joel reveals this divine promise. It was written in a time of longing for renewal after a
devastating locust plague. People faced famine and fear. Their grain and wine were gone, and even
worship had been interrupted.
But God says:“O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given the early
rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as
before.”
In Palestine’s farming life, the early and later rains meant survival. The early rain made seeds sprout,
and the later rain brought the crops to fullness. Rain returning again meant that God’s covenant
faithfulness remained.
And God continues:“I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the
destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you.”
It is a promise to restore even lost time. Then God speaks an even greater word of grace:
“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female
slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.”
God’s Spirit will fall upon everyone—beyond gender, class, and age. In a society divided by hierarchy,
this was revolutionary. The Holy Spirit is no longer for a few chosen people but a gift of life for all.
“Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
To call upon God’s name is to turn one’s heart toward Him. Like the tax collector, acknowledging our
need and opening our hearts is the beginning of restoration. Salvation is not a reward for the perfect
but a grace experienced in the process of living, learning, and changing with God.
Psalm 65 praises this grace of restoration. It begins with forgiveness and ends with the renewal of
creation.
“To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come… Our sins are stronger than we are, but you will blot
them out.”
God hears our prayers and covers our sins. He is not far away but near—renewing our hearts.
Then the psalmist lifts his eyes from worship to the wider world of creation:
“You visit the earth and water it abundantly; you make it very plenteous; you drench the furrows and
smooth out the ridges; with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.”
God cares for the earth like a farmer tending his field. He softens the soil and blesses each sprout.
With that same tenderness, He tends our lives. As that rain softens the earth, our parched hearts are
renewed; and even within dried-up relationships, new shoots of life begin to appear.
If Joel speaks of the promise of restoration, Psalm 65 sings of its fruit—grain, wine, and oil. Both
declare that God renews the whole of life. Worship and creation are not separate: when God renews
our souls, His grace also renews nature and daily life. For God does not divide the spiritual from the
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ordinary.
In 2 Timothy, Paul looks back on his life as it nears its end. He has suffered much, yet he testifies to
God’s presence through it all. His letter does not explain why suffering happens; it declares that even
in suffering, God remains with us.
For Paul, faith was not about success or failure but about trusting God to the end. He offered his life
like a sacrifice, knowing all belonged to God. Suffering, for him, became a time when grace was
revealed.
He writes:“But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be
fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”
Paul’s confession meets the tax collector’s prayer: like him, Paul did not trust in his own righteousness
but entrusted himself wholly to God’s mercy.
This witness assures us that God never leaves us alone. True faith, like the prayer of the tax collector,
begins not with claiming our righteousness but by entrusting ourselves to God’s mercy. In that trust,
we find restoration even amid hardship.
God’s grace always comes first. His love crosses every boundary—restoring what was lost and
bringing new life to all creation. That grace renews not only the human heart but also the world around
us. Faith begins when we humbly respond to that grace.
Today we have seen how God’s mercy and restoring grace continue in our lives. God gives grace first;
we respond with humility; the Holy Spirit renews the community.
We have heard God’s promise to restore even lost years, felt His gentle hand that waters the furrows,
and learned of His presence that never leaves us even in suffering. We also saw why the tax collector
was made righteous—not by perfection, but by his humble heart before God.
Faith, in the end, is about how we stand before God. What matters is not what we have achieved, but
that we come before Him as we are, seeking mercy. And when we do, He restores us.
So this week, let us pray the tax collector’s prayer:
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
When we wake in the morning, when we go to work, when conflict or pride rises within us, let us return
to this prayer. Upon it, God will soften our hearts again, send the rain of the Spirit, and bring forth new
life. May our lives and this whole community be renewed in that grace.
Amen.