Now let’s look at Jesus’
teaching on prayer for us! We see His first teaching of course in Matthew 6 at
the Sermon on the Mount....
5 “And
when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be
seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
The context of Matthew 6 of
course is Jesus contrasting the ways of the Kingdom of heaven vs. this world
(including its religious system). This
includes those that claim to follow and know God but show by their actions they
really don’t. Overall we see Jesus make this contrast
between the outward display of religious devotion/ dedication vs. what is to be
the inward reality displayed in those who are really devoted to the Lord and
know Him.
The warning is clear....
don’t be a hypocrite! In the Greek this
word literally means a stage player, someone whose profession does not match
their actions,... a pretender. Jesus
uses this word three times, in addressing all three ways of displaying
devotion; alms giving, prayer and fasting.
The first thing Jesus is addressing here in prayer is
motive. Whose eyes are we living for? Is it for the eyes of men or the eyes of
God? Paul said it so succinctly in
Galatians 1 verse 10, where he said if he is seeking to please men, he is no
longer a servant of the Lord.... they are diametrically opposed.
6 But you, when you pray, go into your
room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in
secret will reward you openly.
To those who are truly His
disciples, they are told where they are to find their place of communion, alone
with Him. This is the way of the Kingdom
of heaven; if you want to be “seen” by the Lord you do it in secret. It’s the
antithesis of the ways of the world, a world of self-promotion, and
self-exaltation. A world that wants
everyone to see how “good I am” a world of social media that wants to post and
make known ones life to all (some times almost every detail!).
The way of the Lord is a way of demonstrating He is our
first love, by giving Him undivided attention and undistracted communion. This is the bulls-eye
of our lives. If this isn’t being done,
we are living out of order and will not walk in our full destiny. Abiding with Him starts here.... and we know
He said apart from Him we can do nothing.
The enemy will fight you
tooth and nail here. He will do anything to keep you from being
connected to Him and from having this time.
As I said before, if you don’t believe in the reality of spiritual
warfare, just determine to have more alone time with the Lord in prayer and
tell me of your experience. Pray until
you pray. Know that the Father delights
to have this time with you more than you do, and it’s worth all your effort to
contend for that alone time with Him.
To pray in secret to the Father, is a life that is
rewarded. Rewarded with a deeper sense of walking with
Him and the nearness of His presence, favor, guidance, answered prayer, joy,
vision, fulfillment to name a few things.
Is that time worth fighting for, protecting and cherishing? With everything in you! With all that you
have! Yes, yes, yes!!!
7 And when you pray, do not use vain
repetitions as the heathen do.
For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore
do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before
you ask Him.
I saw this first hand
overseas living in West Africa. All
night prayer meetings in a sect of Islam, repeating the same phrase over and
over for hours. This is the evidence of
a lack of relationship. This is evidence
of resorting to formula because you don’t know if you are really being heard or
not. However, in the reality of the new
birth by the Holy Spirit upon belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are to
know that we’ve been given the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, “Abba,
Father.”
I would just say a couple of
things to this “vain” repetitions in possible application for us though. First let us be careful of “fillers” in our
prayers. In other words, constant words
used repeatedly in prayer that are “automatic” but show not a natural
conversation but perhaps used to prevent being stalled in prayer. Such words as “just” or even using “Father”
or “God” or “Jesus” over and over in a way you wouldn’t address someone
naturally in conversation if you were talking to anyone else. I myself used to use fillers, and was gently
rebuked by a brother. At first I was
somewhat offended, but then God convicted me it was true and showed me my pride
in being offended.
Second, in the area of
speaking in tongues, let us remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 14,
“Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I
pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also
pray with understanding. I will sing
with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” Let there be a prayer for understanding
rather than just any form of automated disengagement in ones mind.
We’ll go into the prayer
itself that Jesus taught next time...
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