Praying
“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” Matthew 6:7-8
Having read these verses, the obvious question is: “If God knows everything why bother praying?” The reason for praying is because of the relationship that God wants to have with us. He wants us to spend time with him because that’s what friends do! Jesus made it clear that the nature of the relationship that he wanted with his disciples was one of friendship and not of a master relating to his servants.
When Jesus spoke about babbling “on and on as the Gentiles do” he was talking about a form of prayer that is found in many religions. When the prophets of Baal were up against Elijah on Mount Carmel we are told that they spent half a day crying out: “O Baal, answer us!” (1 Kings 18:26). They were wasting their breath and Elijah mocked them, helpfully suggesting that their god might be daydreaming, relieving himself, away on a day trip or fast asleep. And then in Acts 19 we read how the Ephesian mob spent two hours crying out: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:34). Constant repetition is found in many religions, but Jesus points out that it is totally inappropriate in our relationship with God.
Jesus wanted to encourage his followers to develop their relationship with God by simply spending time with him. He told them to go and hide away in a quiet place where they could be alone with God. It is good that we tell God what is happening in our lives and what our concerns are. We do so not to put God in the picture but in order to let him speak to us and shape our thinking and responses. It is good that we worship him and praise him for his goodness, and spend time seeking his forgiveness for our many failings. But at the same time we also need to give God our silence, so that we can hear from him. Too much of our praying is noisy and demanding, when God just wants to spend time with us and let us receive from him.
QUESTION
What do you do to ensure that you have quality time alone with God?
PRAYER
Loving God, thank you that you invite us to pray. Help me to make prayer a priority in my life. Amen