March Like Jesus
… In Our Praying – Part I
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:5-18
Key Verse: Matthew 6:6
“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you”.
The next “marching order” for those who choose to be Christ-followers is about how we pray. Yes, it matters to God how we pray!
Once again, Jesus points His listeners to those who they had undoubtedly seen praying in the streets and in the synagogues. Jesus called those that prayed to be seen by others “hypocrites”!
Prayers from anyone is a waste of breath when there is any other motivation than a laser focus on talking to our Father in Heaven.
These instructions especially catch the attention of anyone who has others call on them to pray in public. God knows that no one can pray publicly without some inner thoughts of how we come across to those who are listening.
As a pastor, I prayed in public quite often, so I have thought carefully about this marching order. I often whisper a prayer before praying in public, asking God to help me pray sincerely and effectively.
When any Christ-follower is seriously concerned about following the instructions of Jesus, God has great mercy even when we are not perfect in our performance! Our goal is to never lose focus on biblical challenges to “make every effort”!
There are underlying assumptions in this marching order of Jesus’s. The first assumption is that His followers do pray.
Sounds obvious, but I have sensed over my many years of dealing with God’s people that too many pray only when they find themselves dealing with a problem. Even in church, far too many listen to the pastor praying but never really pray themselves. When a person who has claimed Jesus as their Savior and Lord but seldom sets aside time to talk to Him, that is an obvious weaknesses in that person’s walk with God.
The second assumption is that we have a set place to do our praying.
Jesus said to go to your quiet place and shut the door. Do you have a place that you retreat to and focus your mind on talking to your Father in Heaven?
Some people have a long commute to work and take that time to pray (with their eyes open hopefully J.) If our spouse or a friend is in the car, we would not say it was unsafe to talk to them. Certainly, it can be safe to talk to our Father in the car. Again, the key is that it is a regular time and place each day.
Do not ever look at these “marching orders” as suggestion, Jesus expects His Followers to hear Him and obey Him!
Father, forgive me if I have ever taken our relationship for granted. With the help of the Holy Spirit, may I always pray properly! In Jesus’s Name, amen.