Daily Devotional For Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Can you believe we are almost to the midway point for the month of October. I know that time is constant and linear, but it does seem it flies. We are working our way through Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount, which is found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. We have finished chapter 5 and we are currently in Matthew 6, specifically, Matthew 6:5-8:
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (6) But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (7) “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. (8) So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (NASB).
In this passage we have come to verses 7-8. One of the fallacies of meaningless repetitious prayers is that it requires no thought, no intentionality and no personal connection. With meaningless repetition, you need no concentration and you can pray without total indifference. By the time of Jesus, the Jews had borrowed a practice from Gentile pagan religions that believed the longer the prayer, the more wordy the prayer, the more repetitious of certain words or phrases in the prayer, the more powerful the prayer. those who prayed to pagan gods thought their deities first had to be aroused, then cajoled, intimidated, and badgered into listening and answering—just as the prophets of Baal did on Mt. Carmel. We see this with Elijah challenging the false prophets of Baal in a duel in 1 Kings 18:26-29.
New Testament scholar John R. Broadus writes this:
“Many Buddhists spin wheels containing written prayers, believing that each turn of the wheel sends that prayer to their god. Roman Catholics light prayer candles in the belief that their requests will continue to ascend repetitiously to God as long as the candle is lit. Rosaries are used to count off repeated prayers of Hail Mary and Our Father, the rosary itself coming to Catholicism from Buddhism by way of the Spanish Muslims during the Middle Ages. Certain charismatic groups in our own day repeat the same words or phrases over and over until the speaking degenerates to unintelligible confusion” (Source. John R. Broadus, Matthew, p. 130).
Before we condemn the Buddhists and the Roman Catholics, most of us have been guilty of saying the same prayer at grace at meals. We just do it as a ritual with little or no thought or what we are saying or to the One we are supposedly praying to in prayer. Prayer that is thoughtless and indifferent is offensive and rejected by God. And it should be offensive to us as well.
Jesus is not condemning all repetition but that which is just going through the motions with no thought or consideration. We are in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 this:
“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! (8) Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me” (NASB).
Notice that three times (repetition) Paul asked God to free him from whatever was his “thorn in the flesh.” In the Garden of Gethsemane as the time drew shorter for Jesus’ arrest, 6 illegal trials, scourging, crucifixion and death, He repeatedly asked God the Father if there was another way. Look at Matthew 26:39-44:
“And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (40) And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? (41)Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (42) He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (43) Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. (44) And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more” (NASB).
It is not so much the honest, sincerely motivated repetition of needs or praise before God that is wrong, but the mindless, indifferent recital and thoughtless repeating of words just to get through the ritual that is offensive to God. Think of it this way: thoughtless prayer is almost as offensive to God has heartless prayer.
When we come to verse 8, Jesus reminds us that God the Father already knows what we need even before we ask Him. To pray correctly is to pray with a devout heart. So, if God already knows, why pray and ask Him? Good question. I am so glad you asked it. Two simple reasons – First, it reminds us to depend totally on Him and not on ourselves. Second, it helps build our intimacy and relationship to God. When we pray with the right attitude, with the right motives, with a sincere and devout heart, our heavenly Father hears our requests and answers every request in accordance to His perfect and Holy will. God always rewards our sincerity with a gracious response. Our God is more willing to answer than we at times are willing to pray.
New Testament scholar and pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes this:
“I sometimes feel that there is no better way of living, and trying to live, the holy and sanctified life than just to be constantly reminding ourselves of that. When we wake up in the morning we should immediately remind ourselves and recollect that we are in the presence of God. It is not a bad thing to say to ourselves before we go any further: ‘Throughout the whole of this day, everything I do, and say, and attempt, and think, and imagine, is going to be done under the eye of God. He is going to be with me; he sees everything; he knows everything. There is nothing I can do or attempt but God is fully aware of it all. “Thou God seest me.” ’ It would revolutionize our lives if we always did that” (Source:Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 2nd ed., pp. 294-295).
New Testament scholar R.A.Torrey writes these words:
“We should never utter one syllable of prayer either in public or in private until we are definitely conscious that we have come into the presence of God and are actually praying to Him” (Source. R.A. Torrey, The Power of Prayer, p. 76).
That is precisely what Jesus is teaching in Matthew 6:5-8. New Testament scholar Douglas Sean O’Donnell, said he grew up Roman Catholic and was guilty of repeating the same mindless prayer listed below. I copied it exactly as he wrote in his commentary. He did this intentionally to show how mindless, meaningless and insincere his prayers were. He says the prayed this so fast that it sounded as if he never separated the words nor took a break, sounding more like an auctioneer than an authentic prayer warrior:
“hailmaryfullofgracethelordiswiththeeblessedarethouamongwomenandblessedisthefruitofthywombJesusholymarymotherofgodprayforussinnersnowandatthehourofourdeathamenourfatherwhoartinheavenhallowedbethynamethykingdomcomethywillbedoneonearthasitisinheavengiveusthisdayourdailybreadandforgiveusourtrespassesasweforgivethosewhohavetrespassedagainstusandleadusnotintotemptationbutdeliverusfromevilglorybetothefatherandtothesonandtotheholyspiritasitwasinthebeginningisnowandevermoreshallbeworldwithoutendamen” (Source: Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Preaching The Word Bble Commentary, “Matthew: ALL AUTHORITY in HEAVEN and on EARTH”, pp. 161-162).
Questions To Consider
- When you pray “grace” at meals, do you prayer sincerely or is it more of a ritual to get to the meal? Why?
- There is nothing wrong in being repetitious as we saw with Jesus and with Paul. What are some issues you keep repeatedly bringing to the Lord? Why do you do that?
- Since God already knows what we need even before we ask, we are still to ask. How does this benefit you personally and why?
- You read the prayer above by former Roman Catholic Douglas Sean O’Donnell. Are any of your prayers similar? If so, why? What should you do differently and why? When will you start?
- When there is an opportunity to pray publicly, such as at church, are you one of the first to volunteer or do you sit there waiting for someone else to pray? Why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Ecclesiastes 5:1-2, “Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. (2) Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, please help me to pray sincerely, devoutly, intentionally and confessionally to You. Please forgive me when I turn prayer into a ritual rather than about a relationship to You. Please convince me to let my prayer, especially `grace’ at meals, be different and sincere. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly