when ye pray use not vain repetitions

Luke 18:1. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought to pray and not faint (give up).

So, at last it’s our lazy-day Saturday, dry and warm and partly sunny in my area, according to my computer. But whatever the weather conditions, we can still bask in that lazy, idle time that Saturday affords us…well at least some of us. (smile)

Anyway, let’s set the stage by saying our Lazy-day Saturday Prayer. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’

Ah friends, the awesome power of prayer! Yes, at times it can be truly awesome! And I’m sure that we all felt a lessening or decreasing of our tension and anxiety as we said those few sincere words. Our spirits just sighed and relaxed because of that interaction with Almighty God. And it’s truly unfortunate that so many of us do not know the real amazing power of prayer, otherwise our lives would be so much more fulfilled.

And the truth is that prayer’s not some magical element in the believer’s arsenal, but just simply a means of communicating, or talking to our heavenly Father, the One who created us and still LOVES us with such unlimited passion that He sent His Son Jesus to die for us, so that we could be reconciled back to him. And prayer is just the awesome privilege of being able to talk with, to take all our problems to the omnipotent Lord of the universe, who is interested in any and everything that happens to his creation.

Why do you think that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, while he was here on earth spake a parable to his listeners to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint or give up? (Luke 18:1) Because prayer is good for the soul, and it takes us into the Father’s presence and allows us to lay our problems before Him.

And although Jesus was a part of the Triune Godhead, while down here on earth, He also left us that example of regular prayer. He prayed all about, at all different times. The gospel of Mark even tells us: ‘And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary (deserted) place, and there prayed.’ (Mark 1:35) So if Jesus found it necessary and useful to pray, who are we mere creations to think otherwise eh?

Prayer is essential when we get up in the morning to give thanks for been allowed the privilege of seeing another glorious day on God’s great earth, and also when we lay our heads on the pillow at nights, to give thanks for making it through another day. And then during the day, every so often we ought to remember our Creator and tell Him thanks for whatever is happening with us, or ask him for help to handle whatever we’re doing.

We ought to do nothing whatsoever without first consulting Him. That’s why Bruh Paul tells us to ‘Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess. 5:17-18) And the scholars explain those verses thus: ‘In every event or circumstance (thing) the Christian is to give thanks to God for the good He can bring out of the event, even should the event be unpleasant. The constant attitude of prayer, mentioned in verse 17, will help the believer to maintain gratitude in the face of adversity.’

And that’s the indisputable truth my fellow believers! When we are always in, for want of a better phrase, prayer mode, we can handle adversity much better than when we’re not, because we know that God is in control and that in due course, He will work everything out for our good, as promised in Romans 8:28. ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’

So, if you’re a believer, then eventually everything will work out for your good in God’s time and way. And until you truly believe that, your spirit will have no rest, just anxious moments worrying about what’s going to happen in any and every circumstance.

Now prayer is good, but then it should not be used to show off one’s supposed righteousness, like Jesus warns. ‘And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites (pretenders) 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. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet (inner room), and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which seeth in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.’ (Matt. 5:5-8)

Yes friends, we don’t need to make a spectacle of ourselves by praying all about the place, although nothing is wrong with public prayer in general, and when it is called for. Jesus Himself prayed in public on several occasions, for instance when he blessed the food before feeding the 5,000 in Matthew 14 and the 4,000 in Matthew 15. He taught his disciples to pray publicly in Luke 11:1-4, and in John 11:41-42, before He raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus prayed aloud so that the crowd could hear him. So public prayer is not bad, it’s just should not be done to attract attention to our supposed godliness.

And this last warning from Jesus: ‘But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.’ (Matt. 6:7-8) Ah mih bredrin, long speeches and repetitions will not get you heard any more or any quicker than short to the point prayers. Then Jesus went on to give us an example of prayer, we call the Lord’s Prayer, or Our Father, which can be found in Matt. 6:9-15. And I’d suggest we open our Bibles and read it, to make my words come alive in our spirits. (smile)

Oh my people, prayer is indeed the greatest privilege we have as believers in Christ Jesus, and we just have to read the gospels and see how often Jesus prayed, and in all the different places and occasions to realize how important it was to Him. And as I said earlier, if it was so important to the Son of God to pray to His heavenly Father while down here on earth, how much more important it is for us to be doing the same thing.

And as in most things in this life, one will never really find out the truth until one practices whatever it is, and then experiences the results for oneself. So don’t just believe me, or anybody else about the great value in prayer, please try it yourself. You won’t ever stop. I can guarantee you that! Much LOVE!

… prayer…communication between man and God…

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Matthew 6:8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before you ask him.

What shall we say to opening our bleary eyes to a bright new shiny day eh? A simple answer like ‘Thank You Lord for allowing me to see another day. I praise You and bless your holy name,’ will do. Our wonderful God doesn’t need a whole lot of verbiage to satisfy His soul, just our heartfelt thanks and gratitude.

That’s why Jesus uttered this warning to His listeners, a warning which I believe is also very timely for us in these trying and turbulent times. He said: ‘And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites (pretenders) 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. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet (inner room), 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.’ (Matt. 6:5-6)

Now friends, that doesn’t mean that praying publicly is wrong, because it’s decreed in many parts of the Bible, the problem is the misuse of prayer, praying so that men can see us and believe we are so righteous and holy, when we are nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites using it for our personal glory.

And as the scholars explain: ‘The principle here is that the believer should not make a show of his prayer, nor of the answers he receives of prayer in such a way as to call unnecessary attention to himself.’ Unfortunately, many of us today, do just that; make showy attempts of prayer, so that others can see us and think we are such prayer warriors, when we are nothing of the kind.

Jesus knew the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, so He continues on the subject of prayer. ‘But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.’ (Matt. 6:7) Yes my brethren, we don’t need to babble on in our prayers, saying the same things over and over, or speaking without thinking, like some of the heathen and false prophets found in the Old Testament.

Thus, this last word from Jesus. ‘Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before you ask him.’ (Matt. 6:8). For sure! He is God, the Creator and controller of the world, who’s thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours, so He must know what we need, although He likes us to come to Him in prayer and ask, to acknowledge our submission to His will and not ours.

And the scholars offer a wonderful explanation on prayer through that verse. ‘6:8. Prayer is not man’s attempt to change the will of God. Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance to answer, but laying hold of His willingness to help. Prayer in the life of the believer is an act of total confidence and assurance in the plan and purpose of God.

The following sample prayer is given to the disciples as an example of a suitable prayer. This prayer, often called the “Lord’s Prayer,” is in reality a disciple’s prayer. In no way does the prayer itself embody all of Christ’s teaching about prayer; and having just warned against vain repetition, he did not intend for this particular prayer to be merely recited with empty meaninglessness.’

Oh friends, we all know the prayer, and ofttimes we just mouth it without really thinking about what we’re saying. And yes, it’s good to have God in our mouths, but He should also be in our hearts and minds. And we won’t go into a line by line break down of the prayer, but be it sufficient here to know that it contains two major parts; the first is adoration, and the second is petition.

Now that’s the way most prayers, especially in the Psalms are devised. They open with thanks and praise, then they ask for their needs, and I believe that’s a healthy way for us to design our individual prayers. Don’t just jump right into what we need, unless it’s a dire emergency, but first offer up thanks, and remember what the Lord has done in the past for us, and His overall goodness in our lives, show that we appreciate His grace and mercy, before we begin asking for things.

And by the way, please make sure the things we ask for are things that are in His will for our lives, not merely our selfish wants. Now, what we’ve said above, is not the end all and be all on prayer, but hopefully, it will upgrade out thoughts on prayer and help us to pray in a more meaningful manner.

So, with that in mind (smile) let’s go to God in prayer, right now, through our Friday Chant. As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help.

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible.

And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways.

And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’

Please remember, that if we want positive answers to our prayers, we need to keep the promises we’ve just made. Much LOVE!

…Prayer…God’s method of communication with His children…

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SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 June 2023 Luke 18:1.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 November 2021 Matthew 6:8.

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