The danger always exists in our lives of allowing otherwise
special things to become common or routine. There are things we do every
day like eat lunch, watch the news, and drink coffee. There are things we
do weekly like go to church and shop for groceries. There are things we
do yearly like celebrate Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, and our birthday.
There are, however a limited number of both seldom and rare events which
take place in our lives such as a wedding day, the birth of a child, a 20 year
high school reunion, or the death of a parent. The more rare an event,
the more special we tend to treat it.
One of
the biggest challenges in our lives is to take something we do often and keep
it special as though it were rare. Marriage, for instance, frequently
becomes a victim of familiarity and two people who once considered the other as
extremely special are now taking one another for granted. Our prayer
lives, just like other areas, can become stale, haphazard, and even sloppy if
we do not work hard at keeping it fresh and sincere. In our relationship
with God there is an ongoing tendency to get worse and not better, that is
unless we work hard at not letting the relationship slip and deteriorate.
The most common symptom this is happening is that prayers become recitations of
a few familiar phrases with no real meaning attached. Jesus knew this
would be a problem so He warns His disciples about the tendencies and dangers
concerning prayer.
Jesus
taught the disciples not to use what He called “vain” or “meaningless”
repetition (Mat. 6:7-8). The phrase “Use meaningless repetition” is one
word in the Greek and refers to idle, thoughtless chatter. The Scribes
and Pharisees used repetitious prayers; in fact, it had become their tradition
to do so. Other Jews may have prayed that way simply because that is how
they had been taught. Others, however, resorted to repetition because it
was easy and demanded little concentration or effort. The proud
hypocrites were trying to use God to glorify themselves when it came to
prayer. The Jews had picked up the practice of “receptiveness,” in prayer
largely from the Gentiles, who believed that the value of prayer was
significantly tied to quantity. The longer the better was their
way of thinking. They truly believed they would be heard for their many
words! Jesus explained that those who prayed to these pagan gods thought their
deities first had to be aroused, then cajoled, intimidated, badgered into
listening, and finally answering as a sort of concession to the one making the
request. There is an example of this in 1 Kings 18:26-29 where we read of
the Prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel carrying on and on thinking that finally
their god(s) would hear their prayers and answer them.
Jesus
never forbade the repetition of genuine requests, in fact several
passages point to the importance of persistence (asking, seeking,
knocking). Even Jesus, in what is known as His High Priestly Prayer in
John 17, knowing His fate, prayed vehemently that “This cup might pass from
Him.” What Jesus condemns is the mindless, thoughtless, heartless,
indifferent recitals of what sounds like prayer but is not.
True
prayer is offering sincere requests to God. God knows our every need
before we even ask because He is omniscient (all knowing). Martin Luther
said “By praying . . . we are instructing ourselves more than we are
Him.” The purpose of prayer then is not to inform or persuade God but to
come before him sincerely, purposefully, consciously, and devotedly.
Prayer
is sharing the needs, burdens, and the hungers of the heart with our Heavenly
Father, who already knows what we really need. God’s love for us is
exponentially greater than our love for Him. Prayer is, in many ways,
stepping back and giving God the opportunity/place to manifest His power,
majesty, love, and guidance in our lives or in particular situations.
John 14:13 says, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son.” To pray rightly is to pray with a
devout heart and with pure motives. It is to pray with single attention
to God rather than to other men.
When
one thinks of prayer, perhaps the name of St. Francis of Assisi comes to
mind. It is said that he was so close to Christ that he even bore on his
body the marks of the cross. St. Francis knew so much about prayer that
he prayed one of the greatest prayers that has ever been recorded on this
earth. “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred,
let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there
is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to
love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are
pardoned; and it is in dying we are born to eternal life. Amen” (St.
Francis of Assisi) God always repays our sincere devotion with a gracious
response. Every indication is that God is ready to pour out His blessings
on His people. He is ready to give. Are you really ready to
receive?
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
