I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
This verse comes from a parable — a short story Jesus told to make a spiritual point — about two men who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, a member of a highly respected religious group in ancient Jewish society known for strict and detailed observance of religious law. The Pharisee's prayer was essentially a list of his spiritual accomplishments: he fasted twice a week, far exceeding the once-a-year requirement in Jewish law, and gave a tenth of everything he received to the temple. He was not lying — he likely did all of those things. But Jesus presented his prayer as a cautionary example, not a model. The Pharisee's religion had quietly become about performance and comparison rather than a genuine encounter with God.
Father, strip away everything I am quietly proud of in my faith and leave just this: mercy. I do not want a religion that makes me feel like I am ahead. I want to be the one at the back of the room, honest about my need for you. Have mercy on me — that is all I have to offer. Amen.
The uncomfortable thing about the Pharisee is that his resume was real. He actually fasted twice a week. He actually gave ten percent of everything he owned. He was not exaggerating or making it up. And he still walked away from prayer having missed God entirely. Religious discipline without humility is just a performance in spiritual clothing. The Pharisee's fasting was not drawing him closer to God — it was building a wall between himself and everyone who did not measure up. You can fast, tithe, show up every Sunday, read the right books, know all the passages, and still be spiritually hollow — if the whole thing has quietly become about you. The second man in the story, a tax collector (someone everyone despised), prayed seven words: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Jesus said he was the one who went home right with God. That should unsettle everyone who is a little proud of their spiritual habits — including those of us who just felt superior to the Pharisee while reading this.
The Pharisee was not exaggerating his religious practices — he genuinely fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of everything. So what, exactly, was wrong with his prayer?
Are there any spiritual habits or practices in your own life that you quietly use to measure yourself against others, or that give you a private sense of being ahead spiritually?
Is it possible to do all the right religious things and still miss God entirely? What does that possibility say about how loosely or tightly we should hold our own spiritual disciplines?
How do you think the Pharisee's posture in prayer shaped the way he saw and treated the tax collector standing nearby? How does spiritual pride affect the way we see people who seem less religious or less put-together than we are?
What would it look like to pray the tax collector's seven words — "God, have mercy on me, a sinner" — with complete sincerity today, setting aside any sense of spiritual accomplishment or comparison?
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Revelation 3:17
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
Isaiah 58:3
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.
Leviticus 27:30
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Proverbs 21:2
But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Luke 11:42
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Matthew 6:16
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Matthew 23:23
Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Matthew 23:24
I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'
AMP
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
ESV
'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'
NASB
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
NIV
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
NKJV
I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
NLT
I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.'
MSG