“Well, I know that man.” By-and-by, I come upon another. “Why, that man looks like my brother.” I am getting pretty near home. I keep turning over the leaves. “Well, I declare! Here is a man who lives in the same street I do. Why, he is my next-door neighbor.” Then I come upon another, and I see--myself. My friends, if you read your Bibles, you will find your own pictures there. It will just describe you. Now, it may be there is some Pharisee here tonight. If there is, let him turn to the third chapter of John, and see what Christ said to the Pharisee: “Except a man be born again, he can not enter the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus, no doubt, was one of the fairest specimens of a man in Jerusalem in those days, yet he had to be born again, else he could not enter into the kingdom of God. “But,” you may say, “I am not a Pharisee. I am a poor and miserable sinner--too bad to come to Him.” Well, turn to the woman of Samaria, and see what He said to her. See what a difference there was between that publican and that Pharisee. There was as great a distance between them as between the Sun and the Moon. One was in the very highest station, and the other occupied the very worst station. One had only himself and his sins to bring to God, and the other was trying to bring in his position and his aristocracy. I tell you, when a man gets a true sight of himself, all his position and station and excellences drop. See this prayer: “I thank God.” “I am not.” “I fast.” “I give.” “I possess.” Why, if he had delivered a long prayer, and the copy had been put into the printers’ hands, they would have had to send out for some “I’s.” “I thank God,” “I,” “I,” “I.” When a man prays--not with himself, but to God--he does not exalt himself; he does not pass a eulogy on himself. He falls flat down in the dust before God. In that prayer you do not find him thanking God for what He had done for him. It was a heartless and prayerless prayer--merely a form. I hope the day will come when formal prayer will be a thing of the past. I think the reason why we can not get more people out to the meetings is because we have too many formal prayers in the churches. These formal Christians get up, like this Pharisee, and thank God that they are better than other men; but when a man gets a look at himself he comes in the spirit of the publican. You see this Pharisee standing and praying with himself, but God could not give him any thing. He was too full of egotism--too full of himself. There was no religion in it. God could not bless him. Now, for a moment, take a look at that poor publican. Just give his prayer your attention. There was no capital “I” there--no exalting of himself. “God be merciful to this Pharisee; God be merciful to the other people who have injured me; God be merciful to the church members who have not been true to their belief.” Was that his prayer?