This is priceless.
A seasoned Christian who attended his church prayer meeting faithfully always spoke the same things during the time of public prayer. His prayer never varied: “O Lord, since we last gathered together, the cobwebs have come between us and Thee. Clear away the cobwebs, that we may again see Thy face. ” One day an exasperated brother called out, “O Lord God, kill the spider! ”
Perhaps I am the only one who thinks that story (real or imagined—who knows) is hilarious. But whether or not you like the humor of the piece it does bring a great illustration to bear on the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 6:7. He said, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
Jesus did not ban any repeated prayer, of course, for He was the one who prayed very similar prayers three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. But the Master was teaching against the idea that was held in vogue by the pagans (or Gentiles) who focused on how they delivered their prayers, repeating the right words in the right order. Additionally, they often repeated the names of their gods as a way to get a blessing (as in Acts 19:34 ).
Such prayers lack the simple sincerity of a heart poured out before the one true God. And this is the type of prayer that the living God has always desired of His people. Sadly, too many believers are like the brother above, and spend all their time clearing cobwebs rather than speaking to the Lord! Warren Wiersbe wrote, “With some people, praying is like putting the needle on a phonograph record and then forgetting about it. But God does not answer unthinking prayers.”
Actually, the lack of true heart involvement is just one item that marks unheard prayers. Another roadblock on the prayer highway is a lack of awareness. What I mean is a prayer offered without a thought for who the praying person might be in Christ, no thought regarding whom is being prayed to, and no idea of why prayer is necessary. In short, a lack of awareness regarding prayer.
Our Master is quoted above from Matthew 6:7 with regard to the vain repetitions that some people call prayer. But the Lord does not stop there. He goes on to say, “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this…” (Matthew 6:8-9a.)
How interesting! Jesus says that it is precisely because the heavenly Father knows everything in advance that we should follow the instructions for prayer that He is giving. Far from the cry of many people who say, “If God knows, why bother?” Jesus commands that we let our knowledge of who God is and how God loves motivate us to proper and consistent prayer. And that type of prayer must be aware of the person doing the praying and the God to whom the prayer is offered!
Note that such a “pray-er” (the person praying) understands that there is to be a distinction between him and those who do not truly know the Lord. Jesus starts with “Do not be like them.” That is a pretty clear negative. But the Lord gives it to us alongside a positive for He recalls to our minds that one of the distinctions between the believer and the non-believer is that the believer has the right to call God his Father! When a child of God prays he is exercising a family right. It is not a matter of ritual or religious duty, but rather a privilege given only to those who have been adopted into the family of God. That is something of which to be aware every time we pray.
Having the relationship with the Father truly established and informing the mind and the heart will call us to pray with a heart devoted to the Lord and with pure motives. It will motivate us to pray with a singular attention toward God rather than to focus on the deeds or problems caused by other men. And it is to pray with sincere confidence that the heavenly Father both hears and answers every request made to Him in faith. He always repays such sincere devotion to what He has commanded with a gracious response. And if our request is sincere but not according to His will, He will answer in a way better than we want or expect. But He will always answer. It is as Martin Luther said, “By our praying we are instructing ourselves more than we are Him. ”
One day a lady was giving her little nephew some care as she babysat. He was generally a good, attentive boy, but on this occasion he could not fix his mind on what she was trying to do with him. Suddenly he said, “Auntie, may I kneel down and ask God to help me find my marble?” His aunt gave her consent, and the little boy knelt by his chair, closed his eyes, and prayed silently. On the next day, almost afraid of asking the question lest the child had not found his toy and so injure his simple faith, the lady said to him, “Well, dear, have you found your marble?” “No, Auntie,” was the reply, “but God made me not want to.”
That little boy had awareness when he prayed.
As was said above, just because the Lord Jesus quashed the idea of repetitive and empty prayer it does not follow that Christians do not need to pray. God requires His children to pray so that by prayer they might learn their need of Him and dependence on Him. Consider this; the God we pray to is our Father by creation and by the new covenant found through the blood of Christ, and therefore our addresses to him should be easy, natural and unaffected such as children who speak to their parents. Let us come to God in prayer with the disposition of children—with simplicity, love, sincerity and awareness of our dependence on Him.
Remember, God is a loving Father that knows our case and knows our wants better than we do ourselves. He knows what things we truly have need of; the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him (2 Chronicles 16:9). If he does not give His people what they ask, it is because He knows they do not need it, and that it is not for their good; and of such things God is always more able to judge for us than we for ourselves. We are not to prescribe, but subscribe to God when we pray.
Posted on June 1st, 2010 by Pastor Larry
Filed under: Elim Refresher Newsletter, From the Pastor’s Pen