This Week's Article
The Six P's of Prayer
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus exposes the misconstrued idea of religion held by the scribes and Pharisees. In chapter five, Christ confronts false teaching. "You have heard that it was said...but I say unto you." Six areas are addressed: murder, adultery, divorce, honesty, revenge, and love. In chapter six, Jesus speaks concerning false living. Jesus points out three activities which were full of hypocrisy: giving, prayer, and fasting. Hear the words of Jesus as He teaches us to pray.
Do you struggle to know how to pray? We read the prayers of children and find them quite amusing, and at times inappropriate. I wonder if God has the same reaction when He hears the prayers of many adults. Let's look at three things Jesus tells us about prayer in Matthew 6:5-15.
First, don't pray petty prayers. If something is petty, it is trivial or meaningless. Two things made the prayers of hypocrites petty. They were pompous and pointless. They were pompous in the sense that they prayed to be seen by others. And we're not talking about a few people. The Greek word for 'street' in verse 5 can be used to describe a wide road. Not only were they on a wide road, they were on the corner of a wide road! God viewed their prayers as pointless. They prayed vain repetitions. Today, the Jews have a prayer for everything. They pray when they see a rainbow, when they hear thunder, there is even a Jewish prayer to be said when one sees an extremely tall person. Prayer should not be a mindless recitation, it should be heartfelt communication with God.
Second, pray pure prayers. The prayers of the hypocrite are pompous and pointless, but the prayer of the pure should be private and personal. The hypocrite prays in the street, but Christ says to pray in your closet. The hypocrite prays repetitiously, but Christ teaches to pray from the heart. How do we do this? Follow the pattern Christ laid down.
Third, follow the pattern of prayer. You can think of "the Lord's prayer" as a skeleton outline. It's our job to flesh it out. If you feel you don't know how to pray, remember these six things . 1) Proclaim your paternity (5:9a). In other words, tell God He is your Father and you are thankful to be His child. 2) Praise Him (5:9b). 3) Pray that the purposes of God will be fulfilled (5:10). 4) Pray for daily provisions (5:11). 5) Pray for pardon (5:12). 6) Pray for protection (5:13).
When you pray in this manner, you can be assured you are praying pure, not petty, prayers.
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