Tuesday, March 30, 2010
“Preachy Prayers”
I want to start today’s blog out with Matthew 6: 5-8 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
You would be surprise at how many people pray to be heard by men and not by God. This is a serious problem in the church today. I like to call these types of prayers “Preachy Prayers”. Most preachers fall subject to preachy prayers, because they think it encourages the group. While it may energize the people you have to ask yourself, is God hearing you. If your aim is to energize the people that may just be the reward you will receive. But to reach God you can do without the hoop.
Battologeo means to stammer to repeat the same things over and over, to use many idle words, to babble, prate. Jesus warns us against this type of behavior. It must have been so bad in Jesus time that he had to tell them to go in the house and close the door when you pray. Trust me im not against corporate prayer, because I do believe in it, but we have to be careful of our motives during prayer time.
Jesus says in this passage that they think they will be heard by there many words. Jesus is telling us that it doesn’t take many words for him to hear you. During prayer if your heart and mind is focused on Jesus alone you will tap right in to the Throne of Heaven. If you search the scripture you will see that it didn’t take long for Jesus to get the manifestation of what he spoke. If Jesus wanted someone to be healed or the storm to cease like in Mark 4:39 all he would do is say a few words like Peace be still or get up and walk. We are the only ones that pray for two hours about the same thing. The scripture says our Father knows what we need before we even ask him.
Prayer is absolutely one of the most important tools a Christian needs in this walk with God. If your having a hard time finding the words to say in prayer, maybe you should asked God to teach you how to pray. Even if you have been a Christian for many years asking God to teach you isn’t a bad thing. Look at it this way in Luke 11 Jesus disciples didn’t know how to pray. They came to Jesus and said Lord teach us how to pray, and these where guys that spent a significant amount of time with Jesus.
So please saints lets not fall subject to praying to each other and let’s make sure we are trying to reach heaven when we pray. Next time you’re in corporate prayer try to focus on Jesus and him alone. The Bible says we are to always pray, in other wards practice make perfect.
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