Praying rightly

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. - Matthew 5.6-7

This passage is a lot like the one yesterday. It deals with outwards sign of religious practice as opposed to real inward faith practice.

We have all seen them. They are the guys who get called on to pray in church because they are really good pray-ers. They have all the right words, the right inflection, the right emotion, and just the right ‘oomph’ when they pray. They are the prayer superstars who surly must be the ones who get through to God.

This is not to say that they aren’t, if their hearts are real and true and genuine then more power to them.

But sometimes they can remind me of the Pharisees here who pray out loud so that they may be ‘seen of men.’ I once was at a restaurant when a man at another table stood and prayed so loud and so forcefully that everyone in the place heard him pray. I have nothing against praying publically for our food, we try to do it ourselves. But when it is to be seen it is not right.

Public prayer is not wrong, when done with the right heart. However, Jesus says there is something about secret, private prayer. When we pray it is time to shut everything else out. It is our private time with God. When we pray in secret we can trust the Lord to reward us in secret. Our personal time with God should be a precious, honoured, and treasured time.

Another problem with prayer is what Jesus calls ‘vain repetitions.’ In one sense these are the set prayers that are memorised and said in an almost chant-like format. In another sense though, we can be guilty of the same thing when we just pray the same words and same format day after day.

The principle is simple. Prayer is our personal, private time to talk to our Father. We need to make sure that we treat it that way instead of just another ritual.

Pull aside, find a quiet place, and pour out your heart to your heavenly Father today.