Yesterday I was invited to open the NJ Senate session in prayer. It was a privilege to stand before those men and women and ask God to lead and guide them. When I was preparing for the prayer, I prayed first for myself. I asked the Spirit of God to inspire my words so that the ‘prayer’ would not be a public speech, but would, in fact, speak to the Lord of heaven and earth on behalf of those in the Senate. (*you can read that prayer at this link https://www.facebook.com/jerscott/ .)
Jesus, knowing the temptations that come with public praying, reminds us that our best praying is done in private. He said “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 others. Truly I tell you, 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.” (Matthew 5)
Do these words of Jesus mean that public prayers such as the one I offered yesterday are somehow wrong? Not at all. But, if all the praying I do is done in such settings, or in a prayer group, or at church, He knows that the deepest issues of my life will never be touched. When I desire to know the transforming power of the Spirit, when I want to know God in the most intimate way, I must meet Him alone; and I do!
Quite naturally when we are praying among other people, we will be tempted by human pride to say things we perhaps do not mean, or to try to impress others with our spiritual maturity, or even to miss the point entirely by turning our ‘prayer’ into a sermon! That is why I ask today – to Whom do you pray?
Are you just
‘talking to yourself?’
Are you really just talking to the audience?
OR, is your true desire to commune with the Lord God, sharing your heart and life
with the Spirit, open about your needs, admitting your uncertainties, and
leaning hard on Him for the resources you need?
Yes, our Father tells us to bring our petitions to Him boldly. But Jesus also reminds us that if He provides for sparrows, we of much greater value than a bird, can rest assured in His care as well. Then he tells us the true focus of prayer is to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness." (Matthew 6:33, NIV) A modern language text, The Message, richly amplifies His words: "Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
Our prayers are wrapped in our relationship with our Father, shaped by His love, fed by the faith His Spirit inspires in us. So, ask yourself: “do my prayers reveal a heart and mind that is totally oriented around God, loving Him, knowing Him, serving Him?”
This kind of humble, intimate, heart-revealing prayer, done when we are alone, should be a regular part of the Christian life. Yes, praying is a word of first importance! That is why the Word urges us to ‘pray without ceasing.’
We pray in many ways with differing purposes - formal petitions, contemplation, tears of desperation, and words of adoration. These prayers are offered when we are alone with God. They may be urgent words spoken in the middle of life’s messes or patient waiting through times when He appears silent, or even just whispered words of worship. All these, and more, are prayer.
The one constant is that prayer is not about me or you, but about Him: about knowing Him, about learning to live in the center of His will. Prayer, rightly focused, enables us to ‘understand what God is doing and how we can join with Him. Thus, we become co-participants with God. His will sets everything in motion. Our will, directed by prayer, allows us to participate in His purposes.” (Longing For God, Foster, IVP, 2008)
Make that when you pray, you are speaking with the God of Heaven, asking for the best things, ready to receive what HE provides, and trusting Him to hold you and those for whom you pray, near to His heart.
I close with a word from the Word that I find comforting. God, the Spirit, promises to guide us in prayer! Mediate on this passage for few moments, then go to prayer. How I love this promise - "The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will." (Romans 8:26-27, NLT)
Amen
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