Unworthy to Pray

In times like these, prayer is a great comfort for people and a way to honor God. But some people may feel unworthy to pray. They may feel that they have to get to a certain level of "rightness with God" or moral living before they can stand before a holy God and ask him for anything. Martin Luther, the 16th century theologian, struggled with this as well. He wrote a devotional essay about it based on Luke 18:13: "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'"

Here is what Luther wrote:

Some say, "I would feel better about God hearing my prayer if I were more worthy and lived a better life." I simply answer: If you don't want to pray before you feel that you are worthy or qualified, then you will never pray again. Prayer must not be based on or depend on your personal worthiness or the quality of the prayer itself; rather, it must be based on the unchanging truth of God's promise. If the prayer is based on itself or on anything else besides God's promise, then it's a false prayer that deceives you - even if your heart is breaking with intense devotion and you are weeping drops of blood.

We pray because we are unworthy to pray. Our prayers are heard precisely because we believe that we are unworthy. We become worthy to pray when we risk everything on God's faithfulness alone.

So go ahead and feel unworthy. But know in your heart that it's a thousand times more important to honor God's truthfulness. Yes, everything depends on this alone. Don't turn his faithful promise into a lie by your doubts. For your worthiness doesn't help you, and neither does your unworthiness hinder you. A lack of faith is what condemns you, but confidence in God is what makes you worthy.

A note in the ESV Bible adds this: "In petition, the persons praying make their requests known to God, expressing their faith and dependence on Him for all things."

Feeling unworthy? Good. Now you are ready to pray.