Day 18
Persistent in prayer-
Don’t go to ‘Babble-on’ in prayer
God
wants to hear us pray, but he does not need us to go through a ropes course to
do so.
Today
when we pray we will focus on personal
prayer time. I like to think of it as persistency in prayer privacy. We do not
need to have the whole world knowing what we are praying. Our persistent
prayers to God must be done, but we don’t need to babble about it wherever we
go. Choose your words wisely; get to the point in prayer.
Prayers
do not need to be quoted prayers; they do not need to be what I call ‘copy cat
prayers’ that are exactly what we have read to pray. Jesus’ example, or model
of prayer was just that but so many people recite it as if it is the prayer
they should pray. He taught the disciples to pray ‘like this’ and shared His
model of pray as a design not as what to say exactly. He went on to teach them
more.
Matthew 6:5-7
“When
you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street
corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them, I tell you the truth,
that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by
yourself, shut the door behind you and pray to your Father in private. Then our
father who sees everything will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and
on as people of other religious do. They think their prayers are answered
merely by repeating their words again and again.”
Jesus
suggests that we find a specific prayer place; He wants us to get away by
ourselves to pray. Do you have a prayer closet; a secret place to pray?
I
once lived in a house that had originally belonged to a missionary. He had a
prayer spot built into the bedroom in a walk in closet. It had a small window
high enough to look out but not be seen, enough light to see the Word of God
that you could set on the little table ledge built into the wall below the
window. He even went as far as to put a kneeling rail to kneel on.
The
closet was smelly with old-house scents when I rented it but it was full of
sweet smelling savors sent up to the Lord from the hours spent in prayer.
Where
do you go to for your ‘prayer closet’? A prayer closet, or secret place to
pray, can be your car while it’s warming up in the morning, as easily as an
actual prayer closet. There was a lady
who had 7 or more children, back in the days when our country was being
settled. She had a one room house and had to figure out how to have that prayer
time. I heard it told that she would sit in the corner of the room and pull up
her apron over her head to have her quiet prayer time. Her children learned
that when Mom was under her apron they should say back and allow her to pray
and they did not bother her.
Look
around for a spot that works for you. This morning look for a spot where you
can pray privately, so as not to be heard by anyone but the Lord and you. Now
begin the next step by being persistent to go there each morning as you pray.
Good
Morning Lord,