Be yourself with God | |
When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:5-15 (TEV)
God created you and so he wants you to be the real you. By being authentic when you speak to God, you worship him as you Creator. For years I copied the prayers of other people. I noticed they used certain words and even a special tone of voice. I imitated all the religious clichés: "Lead, guide and direct us, O Lord." "Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies." "Bless the gift and the giver." In New Testament times, prayers were wordy, meaningless rituals. There was no spontaneity, no genuineness. But Jesus says don't get caught up in ritual prayer. You don't have to use fancy language. You can't impress God with fancy language, and you shouldn't be trying to impress other people either. I love to hear new Christians pray -- no pious pomposity. They haven't learned the clichés yet. They just say, "Hi, God. It's me." That's how you make contact with God. You just talk with your Heavenly Father about what's on your mind. Just pray your heart. Reveal yourself. Imagine I walked in the door one evening and my kids said: "O, almighty procreator of our family. How wonderful thou art, who sovereignly deposits our allowance to us. Oh, the majesty of thy wonderful self! We beseech thee to come eat dinner with us." I'd check their temperatures to see if they were sick! I don't want to hear that. I want them to say, "Hey! Dad's home. Good to see you, Pop!" I'm not saying to be flippant in prayer, but that's how you make contact with God. You just talk with him in a genuine and heartfelt way. Jesus gives us a model we can use as we learn to make contact with God. Over the next few days, we'll look at six things we can talk to God about when we pray. |
Fair Use Notice
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work herein is archived under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in reviewing the included information for personal use, non-profit research and educational purposes only.
Jesus is Coming Very Soon.
“CLASSIC CHRISTIAN POSTS WILL NO LONGER BE POSTED WITH LAST CALL.”
They can still be found Mon-Fri here at The Classic Christian and Michael James Stone
CLASSIC CHRISTIAN LINEUP
“My Prayer”
Daily Light
One Year Bible Blog
A.W.Tozer
Streams in the Desert
My Utmost for His Highest
God Calling
Spurgeon
Tomorrow we will post the Last Call Lineup
Recommended for Scriptural Accuracy and Integrity
The Old Time Gospel Sermon Index One Year Bible Blog
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
The material is being made available in an effort to understand scripture, news, technology and society especially as it relates to God and Jesus. It is specifically for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. This is a completely non-commercial site for private personal use. No fee is charged, and no money is made off of the operation of this site. Nor is any implied reciprocal gratuities implied or construed.
