How are we to pray? July 14, 2007
Posted by reformedville in : Theology , trackbackThe greatest gift that God has given us, and perhaps the least understood and seriously pursued, is the gift of prayer, the gift of immediate and intimate access to the living God, the promise that when his children pray, he hears and acts. Everyone prays, even professing atheists, in a moment of crisis or danger; it is a reflexive act of the human heart to cry out to God. But how many of us are satisfied that we have pursued the development of this gift of prayer, and the offered relationship with God that lies at the heart of the invitation to pray, with the same intentionality, discipline and vigor that we give to admittedly less important aspects of life? We find Jesus answering the perennial question, “How are we to pray in a way that ensures that our prays will be heard, that they will be pleasing to the God who hears, and that they will accomplish the great ends of this living relationship into which God invites us in prayer?” In every age, God’s people stand before him again and cry, “Lord, teach us to pray!” Jesus first tells us how not to pray, then how to pray, and finally he warns us of the one great condition of praying effectively and of approaching God with confidence. When you pray, do not pray like this (6:5-8): Do not make showy prayers, aimed at impressing people. Do not make wordy prayers, aimed at impressing God. When you pray, pray like this (6:9-13): Pray for God’s glory to be displayed on earth as it is in heaven in revival and reformation. Pray for God’s glory to be displayed in the meeting of our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The one great condition of praying effectively (6:14-15): Forgive others as fully and freely as you desire the Lord to forgive you. What an incredible privilege God gives us in welcoming us into his presence, forgiving us and treating us as if we had never rebelled against him and gone our own way. He loves us as his own children and – amazingly – desires that we love him and spend time in intimate communion with him and with one another. No great work of the kingdom is done apart from the united and concerted prayers of his people. And his one requirement for coming confidently into his presence is that treat one another as he has treated us, forgiving one another, caring for one another, loving one another. So prayer lies at the heart of our life in Christ both in what it offers us and in what it requires of us. “Pray, then, like this, ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’” (Matthew 6:9).
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