Prayer, Week 4

Last week we looked at The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11.  We spent some time considering God gifting us with his Spirit, and how radically this gift changes every aspect of our lives.  I think we have to ask - If our time with God isn’t changing us from the inside out, are we truly being transformed? 

As we enter this final week on the topic of prayer I want to take a few minutes to look at The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6.  Here in Matthew, we find Jesus midway through what we often call The Sermon on the Mount.  In Chapter 6 we find Jesus addressing hypocrisy and performance in three specific scenarios.  

First up is the giving of money to the poor.  Jesus is talking to the gathered group and letting them know that when they give money they should not be focused on the audience observing them.  They don’t need to shout or blow a horn to let others know about their helpfulness.  When they do this they are just putting on a show and their reward is complete.  But, rather Jesus tells them don’t even let your left hand see what your right hand is doing.  

Then be begins a conversation on prayer.  Again Jesus tells them, when you pray don’t be like the performers just putting on a show.  Rather, go to your room and close the door so only God can see you.  

He goes on to tell them that it isn’t necessary to pray as the Gentiles do.  The crowds Jesus was speaking to were predominantly Jewish, so they believed in God.  The Gentiles, however, worshipped many gods.  Jesus tells them that the Gentiles say a lot of useless words hoping that their gods will hear them.  But then Jesus says instead of praying useless words, hoping to be heard, pray these words to the God you can trust.  

Our father in heaven, 

may your name be honored.

May your kingdom come.

May your will be done, 

as in heaven, so on earth.  

Give us today the bread we need now;

and forgive us the things we owe, 

as we too have forgiven what was owed to us.

Don’t bring us into the great trial, 

but rescue us from evil.  

Interestingly, at the end of this prayer, Jesus reiterates the importance of forgiveness.  He reminds the crowd to forgive those that have wronged them, and in so doing God will also forgive them.  But then he says if you don’t forgive people, neither will your heavenly father forgive you what you have done wrong.  Those words are a bit hard to hear.  

Jesus does dive deeper into this topic in Matthew 18, but I think he is reminding them, and us, that forgiveness is rarely easy, but always necessary.  When we harbor unforgiveness it makes it very hard to be transformed because we are constantly focused on the hurt that has befallen us.  Unforgiveness can cause us to put up walls to protect ourselves and can cause us to close ourselves off to the world around us for fear of being hurt again.  

We have an advantage over this crowd on the hill.  We know that Jesus went to the cross, died, and rose again.  We know that God, through Jesus, forgave all things.  And because of this, we have the ultimate example of forgiveness.  

After addressing giving to the poor and prayer, Jesus turns his attention to fasting.  Again we see that Jesus is telling the people don’t put on a show when you are fasting.  It isn’t necessary to put on a glum face, but rather fix your hair, wash your face, and live your life so others can’t even tell you are fasting.  The only one that needs to know is God.  

This whole conversation in Chapter 6 reminds us that we are not to store up treasure on earth, but rather in heaven.  When we give to the poor, pray, and fast we are not doing these things to get the attention of others, but rather to love God and know him better.  God knows if we are putting on a show, and that is not what he desires.  

He desires for our focus to remain on him.  To learn daily what his kingdom looks like, and how to live in a way that draws others toward it.  He wants us to rest in him.  To not worry about tomorrow.  To trust that he sees every need, want, and desire, and to know that we can trust him.  To know that as we meet with him he is radically changing us for our good and his glory.    

As I’ve mentioned throughout the month, prayer is a practice.  It is an area where we will continue to learn and grow for our whole lifetime.  I hope as we have talked about prayer this month that you have seen God’s desire to spend time with you in conversation.  I pray that you have been encouraged to think about the rhythms you have in place around prayer, and challenged to consider anything that might need to be changed or added.  

We started out with prayer because it will be at the core of all of the other practices.  Our communion with God undergirds everything else that we do.  

~ Melissa