Thursday, October 29, 2020

PT-2 "The Content of Prayer" (Matt. 6:7-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/29/2020 9:37 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-2 “The Content of Prayer”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Matthew 6:7-8

 

            Message of the verses:  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 “Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.”

 

True Content:  Sincere Requests Matthew 6:8

 

            The above title is what we will be looking at in today’s SD, as I mentioned in our last SD that there are two sub-sections under the main section of “The Content of Prayer,” and this is the second one which comes from the 8th verse.  I also mentioned that after this sub-section we will be going into the first part of what is mistakenly called “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Notice verse 9a and how our Lord continues on the theme of prayer:  “9"Pray, then, in this way:” 

 

            When we think of prayer to our Father we do not have to badger or cajole Him for our “Father knows what we need, before we ask Him as seen in this verse.  John MacArthur quotes Martin Luther who said “By our praying…we are instructing ourselves more than we are Him.”  “So we see that the purpose of prayer is not to inform or persuade God” as MacArthur writes, “but so come before Him sincerely, purposely, consciously, and devotedly” as quoted from John Scott in a book entitled “Christian Counter-Culture:  The Message of the Sermon on the Mount.”

 

            So exactly is praying?  We could say that praying is sharing the needs, burdens, and hunger of our hearts before our heavenly Father, and even though we know He already knows what we need, He is the One who wants us to ask Him.  MacArthur continues on this subject “He wants to hear us, He wants to commune with us, more than we could ever want to commune with Him—because His love for us is so much greater than our love for Him.  Prayer is our giving God the opportunity to manifest His power, majesty, love, and providence (cf. John 14:13).”  “"And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

 

              We have written about this in the past as we looked back at what may have happened in eternity past as the Triune God planned in advance how angels, humans, and animals would be created on one little planet, and then as if an afterthought “He created the stars too.”  The purpose for this was to bring glory to the Second Person of the Godhead, our Lord Jesus Christ, and when we pray to our Father who knows what we need and He answers our prayers then His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified, and that is a part of what was planned in eternity past.

 

            MacArthur goes on to write “To pray rightly is to pray with a devout heart and with pure motives.  It is to pray with single attention to God rather than to other men.  And it is to pray with sincere confidence that our heavenly Father both hears and answers every request made to Him in faith.  He always repays our sincere devotion with gracious response.  If our request is sincere but not according to His will, He will answer in a way better than we want or expect.  But He will always answer.

 

            “It is reported that D. L. Moody once felt so surfeited with God’s blessings that he prayed, ‘God stop.’  That is what God will do with every faithful believer who comes to Him as an expectant child to his father—smother him in more blessings than can be counted or named.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my thought that the more that I know God the better I can pray to Him, for knowing Him shows me how to pray to Him.  God is not a grandfather figure where we can go to Him with our requests and He will automatically answer, for what we may be asking Him may not glorify His Son, which according to John 14:13 tells us we must do. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord with all of my heart that He knows me and always wants the best for me.

 

10/29/2020 10:14 AM

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