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Prayer, part 1)
Prayer is the instrument through which He demonstrates Himself, the conversation wherein the Lord God receives humble submission to His sovereignty. In other words, prayer is not about us, the food we eat or the situation in which we stand; rather, prayer is all about God. Prayer is the life that gives God the room to do what He does, to be who He is. So what does God have to do with prayer? Everything: that we may align with who He is, that we would continue in subjection to Him as Lord. Love for God above all else drives one to pray.
Prayer has become a soothing four-minute parley directed “out there” to some entity “beyond ourselves.” Some view prayer as a method through which one enlarges his vision; cultivates health, wealth and prosperity; discovers power in words and thought; consoles, inspires then perhaps lauds a little in the vernacular of praise and thanksgiving. Prayer is thought to be the means to an end, the way to make things happen, a calculated method to get things from a God that likes what we like, hates what we hate and whose sole existence is for our gratification and satisfaction. This is a wrong view of God and idolatry, creating a God that does not exist.
Go a step further and consider prayerlessness: Ben Jennings wrote, “Every prayerless day is a statement by a helpless individual, ‘I do not need God today.’ Failing to pray reflects idolatry—a trust in substitutes for God. We rely on our money instead of God’s provision. We rest on our own flawed thinking rather than on God’s perfect wisdom. We take charge of our lives rather than trusting God. Prayerlessness short-circuits the working of God. Neglecting prayer, therefore, is not a weakness; it is a sinful choice.”
[i] Prayerlessness is sin (1 Samuel 12:23).
Despite antiquity, Genesis 28:20-21 contains a very contemporary prayer. First, let me explain, Jacob was caused to leave father’s house after stealing his older brother’s birthright. Jacob is scared to death of Esau and is, in effect, running for his life. Second, the Lord God has appeared to Jacob in a dream in which He told Jacob: 1) I am the Lord; 2) I am the God of your fathers; 3) I will give you the land on which you lie; 4) I will give the land to your uncountable descendants; 5) I am with you and will not leave you.
Jacob apparently heard, but wasn’t listening. Jacob told God: 1) that if God promised His presence and safety; 2) if God would give him bread to eat and clothes to wear so he could return home in peace, then the Lord would be his God. He even gave God a house to live in . . . a stone! 3) Jacob promised to give back to God 1/10 of everything God gave him. Why did Jacob have to ask for what God had already promised in order to make God someone He was already? Jacob clearly did not have a correct understanding about God. When God met Jacob face-to-face some time later (Gen 32:22-30), Jacob had to ask, “Please tell me your name!”
We are familiar with that prayer: “God if you . . . then I will . . .” Prayer is not a formula through which God is coerced or forced, nor is it a manipulation of His power against His will. If this were the case, then this kind of praying is no different from pagans
[ii], whose gods dwell in the rocks and trees and are placated with offerings on stones. Does any god deserved to be followed, worshipped, and even loved if he does something for us based on our whim or demand? Does any god deserve to be served who must be punished (“If you don’t do . . ., then I won’t . . .”)?
Matthew 6 records Jesus’ instructions concerning prayer. He begins, “when you (2nd persons plural, “you all”) pray, you (2nd persons plural, “you all”) are not to be like the hypocrites” (6:5). A line has been drawn that separates the conversations of those who mask who they are, those who have an outward appearance that is incompatible with their inward appearance, people whose theology and philosophy disagrees with reality. The hypocrite is out to build his reputation, make a name for himself by drawing attention to himself.
Those who pray loves God above all else (thus keeping the 1st commandment). The hypocrite loves himself. Look at what Jesus says: “they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.” The hypocrite does not love God above all and worships a god of their own making (breaking commands 1-3). They have what they want in full, right then, right there. But prayer is not about the one who prays.
Proverbs 15:8, “
The prayer of the upright is His delight.”
Jesus has shown what is displeasing to God about prayer and now directs the crowd to see what God looks for in the one who prays, “but you (2nd person singular).” Think of someone standing in front of a crowd pointing, “You!” The crowd points themselves, “me?” they think? But then he steps down and walks through the crowd (“not you, no, not you, you!”) until he comes face to face with an individual, “you.”
Jesus has already shown us what God sees and how He rewards the hypocrite. Now consider what God sees and how He rewards the one who prays without thinking about himself. This is the second time Jesus mentions what God sees in the one who acts in secret. The difference is that, in contrast with the one who loudly draws attention to himself by use of religiosity, one is going to take the time to carefully examine in the finest detail possible those things he brings to God, including his reasons for bringing them. That secret place is the “workplace”, the storage room where things are prepared for distribution. “You” are encouraged to be unhypocritical in prayer by making certain that in those things “you” talk about God, that He is able to demonstrate His fullness His way on His timetable. The one who prays is making himself ready to be fully content, fully satisfied with God. The reward is God as He glorifies Himself in answering prayer.
A person who prays with misdirection is actually looking for reward. That is the reason many people pray—to get something. The problem is that they are looking for a material answer for the moment. They don’t realize the reward they are forfeiting is the source of the answer while they are merely looking for the answer.
Furthermore, when praying, words have meaning and have no power in themselves. Words expose what is really on the heart. When you open your mouth, you come out, as it were. One who does not think will babble, thinking they will be heard by force of repetition. If one is being automatic and repetitious, he is empty and without any consideration. In other words, prayers are not for the sake of repeating. But again, here is one who is out for his own interests and is not thinking about He with whom we have to do.
So Jesus can say, “So do not be like them [hypocrites].” Why? Because prayer is all about God. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
And “you” need “Him.”
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[i] Cameron, Kirk and Comfort, Ray. School of Biblical Evangelism. Gainesville: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2004.
[ii] Is “neo-pagan” an oxymoron?
