HOW TO PRAY

HOW TO PRAY!

Matt 6:5-6

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

           This is the preamble to what we call “the Lord’s Prayer” which follows in verses 9 through 13. Jesus gives us four instructions for prayer.

           Pray secretly! Jesus had just commented on the prayer habits of the hypocrite who loves to stand in public places and pray public prayers so that he might win public applause. Note that none of those things have anything at all to do with communication with God! No, Jesus recommended a closet or inner room of the house where there would be no distractions and no witnesses except God.

           Pray sincerely! Jesus warned against “vain repetition.” The single Greek word which is translated vain repetition is battologeo and it literally means “to stammer, stutter or to prate (babble or jabber) tediously.” Those who would string together a long list of “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” would be like leaning on a door bell. Once the Master of the house has heard the bell and opened the door there is no need to keep ringing it! The only response possible would be “What! What! What!”

           Pray in submission to His will! The purpose of prayer is to align ourselves with God not to force God to align Himself with us. We should not ask God for anything that will dishonor His name, delay His kingdom, or disturb His will on earth. We can ask God to do specific things that would further His cause and honor His name. The results are powerful.

           Pray stubbornly! In Luke 11:5-10 the force of Jesus’ advice was to ask and keep on asking and to knock and keep on knocking. If your request is not answered soon then keep on asking using the principles of secrecy, sincerity, and submission.

           Pray in the Spirit! Romans 8:26 indicates that when we do not know God’s will in a matter, we can ask the Holy Spirit to translate the groaning of our heart into an appropriate prayer to the Father. When all we can do in prayer is moan the Spirit understands what we need and want.

Dear Lord, today there is much to pray for. Please send your Holy Spirit to join me in the sanctity and secrecy of my heart. Please ask Him to hear and translate the groaning that He finds there and answer according to Thy will. AMEN