#142: To Pray... (Part 3): Right Motives

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.  Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (Matthew 6:7‭-‬8 NLT)

Thank God for the success so far in this study. As we look into the text for today, building on what God has already began with us, may these building blocks lead to a turn around in our prayer life. Amen.

The prayer of a believer in many ways differ from what the idol worshipers (or as today's text calls them - Gentiles) call prayer to their deity. Very quickly we will look into the various strokes of the paint brush that Jesus uses to paint this guideline for us when we pray:

1. Why should I pray?: We will start from the ending of verse 8 for our discussion today. Why should I pray in the first place when God already knows what I need before I even ask? I have struggled with this question for a long time. It has frustrated my prayer life. It has made me lazy over the years when I get on my knees to pray because just then, I say, "But God knows what I want, He even knows my thoughts, I can not hide anything from Him, so why should I pray?"

There are so many answers to this question but the one I love the most which helped me always look forward to meeting God in prayer is that God wants to hear from me. How warm this can feel; that the God of all flesh, who knows everything, still derives pleasure and looks forward to hearing from me as oft. Christianity is a relationship with God and communication is one part of a relationship that cannot be looked down upon. Even in our human to human relationship, parent to child, peer to peer or name it, sometimes we know what the other party needs/wants, it may be so glaring, yet sometimes, we sit back and wait for them to say the word. God knows what we need before we ask. He is willing and ready to act, but we have to communicate it to Him. This is what we do in prayer. Telling God what He already knows, but it's not boring to Him. It is ever fresh, hitting a different note coming from your heart - the very thing He has probably been waiting for in a long time.

2. Why should I pray with persistence?: Jesus said in verse 7 that we should not make vain repetitions, not because repetitions are bad in prayers, but when making repetitions, do not think that it is in your many words that God will hear you. Building on the previous point of discussion, one of the reasons we make several requests in our inter personal relationships/communications is because we know we will get an answer. This is where the thin line between faith/trust and disbelief is. The gentiles pray repeatedly because they are not sure they were heard the first time; they have no assurance and they would leave no stone unturned by repeating their prayers till just probably, accidentally, the deity happens to finally tune in to their frequency (I Kings 18:20-29). This is different for us believers. God already knows what we need before we ask Him, and He hears us whenever we pray (Psalms 116:2). In practice we may need to pray more than once as a test of our faith, not because God did not hear us the first time. The act of praying persistently means that you have resolved in your heart that the help you need can only come from God and not from abroad (Luke 18:1-8), this is faith! In the same way, God also hears simple short prayers. It is not the length of the prayers that catches His attention. He already knows what you need before you ask.

Thought: The person in a relationship with God finds prayer as a means of communication in order to fuel the relationship. The person who believes the most, prays the most.