WATCHWORD:
6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you. 7-8 “Don’t recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen do, who think prayers are answered only by repeating them again and again. Remember, your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9 “Pray along these lines: Matthew 6:6-9a
Meditation:
A Basic Lesson
How to pray was a lesson that Jesus taught his disciples, but I’m not sure how well we have learned it. Let’s say we are in a class taught by Jesus and He spent a lot of time instructing us on how we should pray. He talks about praying in secret and the fact that our Heavenly Father knows all of our secrets. He cautions us on repeating prayers over and over again, and challenges us to pray from the heart. Then he hands out a sheet and tells you it’s a quiz. The first question is: I told you to pray along these lines. What are those lines?
Now your hand is sweating, your heart is beating rapidly. You think you know the answer to this but you want to get it right, you want to impress your Lord. So, you write down every word of the Lord’s Prayer, just as you memorized it. You turn the quiz in, and, later, you are shocked when you received an ‘F’, with the notation, “You didn’t answer the question!”
Then as you stare at your paper, the grade fades, then disappears and you hear your Teacher’s voice telling you, “I read your heart and I know that you know. Remember, God does not hear us because we pray earnestly or with repetitions, or necessarily a prayer we have memorized. Your prayers must come from your heart, they join you in perfect fellowship and oneness with God, the Father. I have said that everyone who asks for anything your heart desires, receives when we ask for things of God that are in keeping with the Heavenly Father.” Pray that way.
Oswald Chambers makes the point that “the primary thought in the area of prayer and worship, is keep your eyes and thoughts on God, not on people. Our motivation should not be the desire to be known as a religious, praying person.”
It is in the privacy of our inner relationship with God that our prayers strengthen and heal. We should have no motivation other than to know our Father in Heaven. In truth it is impossible to carry out our life as followers of Christ, as his disciples, without times of secret prayer. So be it.
Pray Along These Lines:
Praise God for who he is! …
Ask for Heaven to come to Earth! …
Ask for your daily needs! …
Ask for God to forgive you (as you forgive others.) …
Ask for God’s guidance! …
Ask for God’s protection!
Your Prayers Should be Simple:
9 Our Father in heaven,
let Your name remain holy.
10 Bring about Your kingdom.
Manifest Your will here on earth,
as it is manifest in heaven.
11 Give us each day that day’s bread—no more, no less—
12 And forgive us our debts
as we forgive those who owe us something.
13 Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
[But let Your kingdom be,
and let it be powerful
and glorious forever. Amen.]
Matthew 6:9-13 The Voice Version
