When my son was quite young, we began praying together every night before he went to bed. Also, he understood we thanked God for each meal.
I "caught a clue" one time (among many), when I had him leave a message for his grandparents on their answering machine. He had rushed through his message and ended it, "in Jesus name I pray, amen." His grandparents really treasured that message. After that, I began to discuss with him why we prayed, what it meant and the importance of Whom we are praying to.
I think many of us still think in "magical words," "rote phrases," and repetition when we pray. I wonder if we'vve lost sight of the fact we are praying to our "Abba," heavenly Dad.
Would you talk to your earthly parents this way: Oh mama, I really want that dress. Please give me that dress. I really need that dress. Did you see the dress I really want? Mama! Mama! Mama! The dress, at the store, on sale...is what I want. Dress! Dress! Dress! I want that Dress. Please give it to me. Please give me the dress. Mama! Oh Mama! Can I please have the dress!? Please! Please! Please!?
Or, how about your friends: Hey Debbie! Oh Debbie! Please listen to me now. Right now, I need you to listen to me. I really want you to hear me. Debbie? Oh, Debbie! Can you hear me? Are you hearing me? Listen, listen, listen! Debbie! Pay attention to me. I need you to listen to me and what I have to say. I have something to say that I want you to listen to. Please listen to me Debbie!
So, how about it? Would you talk that way to your parents or friends? Then why do we talk to God in that way? Why do we think/feel we need to bombard Him with words....rambling...babbling....nonsensical words?
I used to think praying was kinda like a vending machine. If I insert so many prayers, I'll get the answer I'm wanting/looking for. Notice, it was my will, my desires, my agenda I was wishing the magical words of repetitive prayer would fulfill.
Someone once said, " Prayer is to align us with God's will, not our own."
Read on to see what PW Devotionals has to say on this important subject!
| Pray How?: Stop Babbling Posted: 08 Jun 2010 01:00 AM PDT "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:7-8) Some idol worshippers believed their gods were more likely to give them what they wanted if they prayed by the hour. That is, some would chant the same things over and over and over and over and over, hoping to impress their gods with their dedication or desperation.
Jesus said our God doesn't need that from you. He's not running a word count on your prayers to measure how serious you are. In other words, we can keep it simple. Tell God what's on our minds and believe that He heard us and will answer (one way or another). It's another act of faith, isn't it? Jesus said the Father already knows what we need. He doesn't require us to write it on the board 900 times before He responds.
Does that mean we should never ask the same request more than once? Or more than once a day? I don't think that was Jesus' point. In fact, one of His parables encourages the practice of repeatedly knocking on the door until you get an answer. He's talking here about senseless and/or superstitious repetition of prayer. But He doesn't want us to stop talking to Him, just to be in the moment, to be present with Him in the conversation.
Think: Do you ever catch yourself praying without really thinking about it? What does it say about our prayers if our minds don't have to be involved with the words we're saying?
Pray: Ask God to help you not to fall into mindless repetition when you pray, but to be real and present when you talk to Him.
Do: To avoid falling into the pattern of mindlessly saying the same thing to God over and over again, try making a "cheat sheet" of talking points before you pray. Make a list of things you want to say to Him, then pray through the list. Come back to it when you find yourself distracted by other thoughts.  |
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Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.orghttp://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/
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