Dialoguing With God
“And when thou
prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be
seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou
prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye
therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,
before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
(Matthew 6:5-13)
Today’s Morsel: Prayer must be
a joy button for those who are born again. But what I am finding is that
most people do not know how to pray. Jesus said, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” (Matthew 6:7)
We don’t need to walk around shouting our prayers, nor do we need to amplify
what we are praying about. Our heavenly Father already knows what we need
before we ask Him. Being able to dialogue with Christ, one on one, should
make us feel excited and happy. When we can sit and have a good
conversation with Him where it is not one-sided with one person doing all the
talking, but each has time to give input, we will usually go away feeling good
about the time that we have spent together with Him. In a conversation,
if one person is doing all the talking and the other is not listening, or if a
person is not given a chance to input some thoughts and ideas, they usually
leave worn. The same is true with prayer. If we do all the talking,
and we do not spend time listening to God, we will leave still feeling worn and
weary. I do not believe that we need to display demonstrative actions
toward God to get our prayers across. He is already aware of what I
need. I want to hear His wisdom and directions for the things that I
ought to do, how I ought to do them, and allow Him to alert me to the things
that are going on or coming down the pipeline against the church. And
that just might require me to let Him give some input into our
dialogue, rather than me doing all the talking. Take some time in
your prayer time to listen to the still small voice of God. I
guarantee you that you will be glad you did.
Sing: Jesus, hold my hand, Lord, I
need Thee every hour. Through this pilgrim land, protect me by Thy saving
power. Hear my feeble plea, O’ Lord look down on me, when I kneel in
prayer, I know I’ll meet You there, blessed Jesus hold my hand.
Thought For Today: “Prayer is not
monologue, but dialogue. God’s voice in response to mine is its most essential
part.” Andrew Murray
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