Are We Really Serious When We Pray or Just Pretending? (Part 4)

This is the fourth article in a series on prayer.  I am attempting to explore the vast  insights the scripture gives us if we would only open the scriptures to find them.  The topic of prayer, based on my experience, has few believers practicing because of misguided teaching in the greater body of Christ. Believers say they understand prayer and yet practice it either infrequently or poorly. The subject of prayer deserves a lot more attention. Jesus said his house was to be called a house of prayer, not of preaching or worship, even though those are important items and functions in a healthy church. Real healthy prayer is the gateway into the presence and provision of God. If you have not read the first three articles please do so now so you can see the foundation points on my understanding on the importance and practice of prayer for each believer. Look at what the disciples ask Jesus one day about prayer and how to pray according to the will of God.

Luke 11:1 Lord’s Prayer                                                                                                                                                                             One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

In article three, I mentioned that I would be unpacking the principles behind the “Lord’s Prayer“, which Jesus taught his disciples because so few believers have been taught the principles and targets behind it. Mind you, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, which if you think about it was astounding. These Jews grew up being taught how to pray according to the Jewish leaders, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Although they had been taught to pray from childhood, they knew the difference between being religiously correct and having power with God in prayer. So they admitted their need to learn prayer better and asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. I’m assuming this occured because they were tired of powerless praying. We could learn a lot from their honesty.  They saw the power Jesus had and they knew where he got it from, his prayer in lonely places by himself with the Father.

I get so discouraged when I hear pastors encouraging their congregations to recite the Lord’s Payer as if it were a magic formula. This is done often at funerals and in church services with little thought of the damage being done by teaching people to just say the words without seeing the purpose. The Lord’s Prayer was given to guide believers in addressing key “Targets” in their prayer lives, while talking with God about their personal needs and the needs of people they cared about. It was not meant, as is the practiced by most Christians, to be recited verbatim like a magical formula.

First, let’s consider what Jesus told his disciples “Not” to pray like.  There were three main areas he listed in the gospel of Matthew which we will now unpack.

Matthew 6:5-8                                                                                                                                                                                            “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

[6] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 

[7] And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The three styles of prayer we should avoid is as follows:

1) Don’t pray like a “Hypocrite” – in other words like an actor. To many people have learned to pray horizontal rather than varietal in other words praying to impress people rather than God

2) Go into your “Secret Room” – in other words pray from the heart not just from your religious training. When we pray just out of our head we are not focusing on communication with our heavenly Father but rather giving our shopping list of requests.

3) Don’t “Babble” When you pray – in other words don’t keep saying the same thing over and over again as if God were hard of hearing or thinking by saying your request over and over again God will move on your behalf.

Now, let’s look at the meat of the Lord’s Prayer or the substance of the “Targets” Jesus gives us to cover when praying. These five targets or topics were meant to help the believer to see and hit all the major bases in praying effectively. I will not have time to elaborate fully but I will list the targets for you to study out on your own. Again, there are “Five Major Targets” that Jesus lists in his outline on praying effectively. Here they are:

Matthew 6:9-13        The Lord’s Prayer Outline                                                                                                                                 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,                                                                                                                                                     1 ) Relational Respect – First and foremost prayer is about talking with our Father not just some powerful being. And secondly, it is acknowledging our respect for him both as God & Father.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.                                                                                           2) Submission To Authority – This target is about God’s authority in what we desire and what we surrender to before asking for any help or assistance.

Give us today our daily bread.                                                                                                                                                                                   3) Ultimate Supplier – Acknowledging God as our source for our needs and desires and not our bank account or assets or even others help.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.                                                                                                                       4) Forgiveness & Release – We admit our need of daily forgiveness as we walk in a broken and corrupt world and we admit if God is merciful to us we are willing to extend it to those who have offended us

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.                                                                                                                    5) Guidance & Protection –  The word temptation is better translated as “Testing”, which acknowledges that there are times when God must test our hearts and desires because we are either blind to a problem or refuse to look at them. If we are seeking his guidance and help often then the testing will not be necessary. Secondly, we acknowledge we are in a war with Satan now that we are following God and his word. That acknowledgement makes us ready to put on the full armor as listed in Ephesian 6.

The Lord’s Prayer was meant to keep us on track with the major elements of our prayer life in order to achieve a strong healthy Christian life. When we see that the average Christian has the same problems of money management, divorce, unforgiveness and a lack of generosity its easy to see Satan has fooled the believer to just recite the Lord’s prayer rather than hitting it’s target.

There is so much more we will be dealing with on the subject of prayer in the following articles. The next topic I want to address is whether prayer changes God’s mind or not. There is so much in Christian circles that has preverted the incentive and motivation to pray and this topic is a major hinderance to us engaging our prayer life with passion and assurance.

Questions:

1) Have you been taught to just recite the Lord’s Prayer for comfort? Rather, pray with biblical reason and conviction the way Jesus taught his disciples

2) Are you tired of praying without the power of God? Submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and get honest about your lack of power. The Holy Spirit will lead you as a wise counselor through the scripture to discover what has always been waiting for you.

Loving the scripture and what it teaches us about our “Potential” relationship with God.

Pastor Dale