Praying to the Father

Today’s scripture:

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10)

You know, I used to be afraid to pray for a few different reasons. I didn’t like to pray because I didn’t think the Lord really had that much interest in me. And for another reason, I didn’t like to pray out loud because I wasn’t sure I could pray smoothly and with such simple sounding words to a very complicated and powerful holy God. And to be honest, I still struggle a lot with a “fear of man” type of pride. And that is the only reason if any of us feel that way about praying aloud. A fear-of-man type of pride says, “What are people going to think?” “Are they going to think I’m not very holy or confident?” Well, we all know that way of thinking isn’t from God.

Do you have a problem going to your mom or dad or a loved one for advice or just to have someone to talk to? Then why in the world would we have a problem with the one who is able to love us way more than any of our loved ones? Maybe I’m not the only one who has ever felt this way. Maybe you are thinking you have to know how to pray before actually doing it. Prayer is just communicating with God. That’s all it is! We can do that through worship and praise, reading His Word or simply offering up words to Him. It is even prayer when we just sit quietly before God letting Him speak to us! Well, if you still need instruction on how to communicate with God, thankfully He has given that to us in the book of Mathew.

Today we are looking into the tenth topic on the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is teaching, which is “The Model Prayer”. In Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus is basically showing how we should come to the Father in prayer. Please open your bible to this passage and lets go through it together.

First, (v.5, 7) Jesus tells us not to get all caught up in sounding all holy and impressive with our speech so that people will think more highly of us. Very backwards with my thoughts of wondering what people are going to think of my simple words, isn’t it? That is not God’s will for coming to Him. He wants you to be genuine and real to Him. He knows you anyway (v.8). He says people that pray for reasons of getting noticed will not get His reward because they have already received what they desired which comes from man.

Second, (v.6) Jesus says to pray in secret. Now, I believe we all need to have a quiet time (preferably in the morning before the ways of this world start to creep in) away from the noise and by ourselves and just sit still before the Lord. Even though that is true, I don’t think that is what is meant in this scripture. I believe Jesus is telling us to go to Him in our hearts where nobody else can know us but Him. Speak to Him with truth about where your heart is and just be real with Him. If you feel sad… tell Him. If you feel joyful… sing to Him, If you are angry… let Him know just how angry you are! But whatever you pray to Him about, remember He is God and you are not (see todays scripture Psalm 46:10)!

Then He gives the example of prayer in verses 9-13. I grew up in a church that recites prayer word for word all the time to where the prayer never changed. It wasn’t long before the prayer didn’t mean anything to me… they were just words. He gave us this example in Matthew so that it would be a guide and not necessarily a word-for-word prayer.

He first starts out the prayer with acknowledgement of who God is. “Our Father”: in other words “Abba” meaning our intimate Father. “Hollowed be Your name” meaning His name and Himself is holy and to come to Him with reverence. Verse 10-11 is praising Him with acknowledgement of His power to have His will be done everywhere, and telling Him that you need Him every day and His Word for you. Then He follows that with asking for forgiveness of our sins and to protect us from falling into further sin and from the devil himself, and finally His wraps it all up with more praise to the Father. AMEN!

Reflection:

Matthew 6:9 “In this manner, therefore, pray…” In other words, in this attitude, you should pray – An attitude of reverence for who God is. Prayer is probably the most powerful thing we can do. Without it, we have no communication with our Father. Think if NASA sent up the shuttle to the moon and on their journey, they loose all communication with Huston and all their commanding officers. How devastating that would be. We need to have that with God! God’s model of prayer starts 1^st with shutting the door behind you (be still), 2^nd to know He is God, 3^rd is praise, 4^th is pleading with God for Him to give us Himself, 5^th is asking for forgiveness, 6^th is asking for protection, 7^th and finally wrapping it up with more praise!

Challenge:

Stop right now and go to your Father who is in heaven, and just sit there for a few moments basking in His presence not saying anything but acknowledgement Him for who He is. Offer up praise and thanksgiving knowing that He is has your life in His hands. Talk to Him as you would with someone who you desire to be so close and intimate with because He desires that with you too.

-Doug McGowan