And now about prayer!
Matthew 6: 5-13
And now about Prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who pretend piety by praying publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Truly, that is all the reward they will ever get. 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. Don’t recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen (pagans) 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! Pray along these lines: our Father in heaven, we honor your holy name. We ask that you’re your kingdom will come just as it is in heaven. Give us our food again today, as usual, and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Don’t bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, Amen.
When the disciples asked Jesus for instructions on prayer, He began like this “when you pray” assuming that the disciples had a regular praying time. Today many of us are busy running here and there after our business, trying to fix our broken marriages, hoping to find true love, wanting to land a career that has been a long life dream, attaining the highest level in education, being a star and to mention but a few, and as such we forget to make time to pray and to pray like the master did. We are too busy to pray for results. We lack the very principles that made the master the expert in praying right for answers.
Like the Master taught if we want to build a healthy relationship with God, let’s always create the atmosphere to worship God. Let’s get away from all forms of things that distract us (TV, noise, friends, family etc.) and welcome God’s presence daily. Jesus prayed at all times, hence we too must develop a daily habit of going to his presence at specific time of the day all alone (privacy).
We must also mean what we say and avoid vain repetitions like the pagans do. We should not be deceived. God is not impressed by long pious word, neither is He interested in simple, sloppy prayers. We ought to grow in our prayers and enjoy God’s presence around us.
Parents are frustrated when their children do not tell them what exactly they want from them. It’s the same with our heavenly Father; Jesus insisted we be more specific, telling God exactly how we feel because God already knows our needs. We are looking at a Father who only wants to draw his children closer to himself and as such demands that we pour out our feelings to him in sincerity.
In conclusion, as we desire to succeed in everything and to see the glory of God in our lives, we must not forget that there is the need to draw closer to God in Prayer. And we must not just pray but pray to get results. In order to get that, there are basic principles to follow in arriving at a perfect and effective prayer relationship with God. We must pray regularly, alone with God, from a sincere heart and be more specific in what we want.
No discipline will in and of itself create a relationship between God and me. At the same time, I cannot develop a rich, rewarding prayer life if I try to do it without discipline (by Bill Hybels).