Sunday Reading: Matthew 6:5-8
Key Verse: Matthew 6:6
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.
Devotion:
What is a prayer? One of the best dictionary definitions that I have found is “a solemn request for help or an expression of thanksgiving to God.” And that is about as close as we can hope to get from a world that is trying to stand up and say that they do not need God in their lives; but it is strange that they should turn back to God when all else has failed! Prayer is more than just something that you bring to God when all else has failed because it should be our regular conversation with God.
A conversation is not going to be limited to a pre-written script or something that is repeated out loud when it comes to looking its definition up in a dictionary, so why should we treat our prayers like that? A conversation implies that both parties are going to be doing some talking too... If you wanted to strike up a conversation with someone then you would like them to respond when you do say things. That is exactly the attitude that we should be taking with our prayers – we should be starting the conversation and expecting God to be replying imminently. That answer that you expect is a measure of your faith in believing that God will answer your prayers!
Our prayers need to be lifted up to God regularly and with meaning. It is no use saying one thing and meaning another thing because that is just not going to stick it with God. Our prayers need to be lifted up to Him because we mean what we say and not because we want others to hear what we say. Praying out loud so that others can hear you will get you just that – you will get them to hear what you have to say! If you really mean your prayers then you will pray them to God and not care if anyone else would hear you or not. When Christ said that we should pray in secret it was for that very reason; so that we would get away from this other people hearing us thing and make our prayers personal with Him! A prayer is a conversation between you and God... period!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like talking?
What is your conversation like with God?
Key Verse: Matthew 6:6
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.
Devotion:
What is a prayer? One of the best dictionary definitions that I have found is “a solemn request for help or an expression of thanksgiving to God.” And that is about as close as we can hope to get from a world that is trying to stand up and say that they do not need God in their lives; but it is strange that they should turn back to God when all else has failed! Prayer is more than just something that you bring to God when all else has failed because it should be our regular conversation with God.
A conversation is not going to be limited to a pre-written script or something that is repeated out loud when it comes to looking its definition up in a dictionary, so why should we treat our prayers like that? A conversation implies that both parties are going to be doing some talking too... If you wanted to strike up a conversation with someone then you would like them to respond when you do say things. That is exactly the attitude that we should be taking with our prayers – we should be starting the conversation and expecting God to be replying imminently. That answer that you expect is a measure of your faith in believing that God will answer your prayers!
Our prayers need to be lifted up to God regularly and with meaning. It is no use saying one thing and meaning another thing because that is just not going to stick it with God. Our prayers need to be lifted up to Him because we mean what we say and not because we want others to hear what we say. Praying out loud so that others can hear you will get you just that – you will get them to hear what you have to say! If you really mean your prayers then you will pray them to God and not care if anyone else would hear you or not. When Christ said that we should pray in secret it was for that very reason; so that we would get away from this other people hearing us thing and make our prayers personal with Him! A prayer is a conversation between you and God... period!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like talking?
What is your conversation like with God?