Appearance and Reality: Part 3 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. I’m John North, and I’m happy to start your Wednesday morning along with you as we open the Bible and see what God has to say.

We’re talking this week about appearance and reality in our lives, and isn’t it true that so often we feel like people have an expectation of how we should be living and talking and acting, and so we put on that performance, even if it’s not really what’s in our hearts or what’s going on inside of us. And God wants us to live a real life. Not to live a performance for other people.

He tells us not to live trying to please people, but rather to live a life that tries to please him. And so often it’s because we are not living a life to please God that we try to put on the performance so that people think we are living the life to please God.

Well, how are you going to build into your heart and life this real inner reality where you want to live a life that is pleasing to God. I’ll tell you how: it’s by spending time with him every day listening to him, and when he speaks to you from the Bible, challenges you about your own life, respond to him, say yes, and begin to put into place the things he’s talking about.

As he reveals to you more of who he is and what he’s like, just soak on those things in your mind and let your heart respond to who God is.

As you get to know God, you’ll find your heart more and more just loving Him and wanting to do what is right and what’s pleasing to him.

One of the big areas where we try to put on a performance when we’re with other Christians is in how we pray.

And we have this feeling like we have to come across as this amazing prayer(er), as if prayer is about performing and being skilful. Like you want someone who is preaching on Sunday at church to be a really good speaker and so you feel like if I’m going to pray out loud with other people, I have to be a really good prayer(er).

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Well, nothing could be further from the truth. What God is looking for in our prayer life is simply reality.

Right, he wants us to just talk to him very honestly about what’s in our hearts. You read the Book of Psalms, which has so many of David’s prayers to God, King David from the Old Testament.

And in those he just comes right out and tells God, I’m frustrated with you. Why are you taking so long about helping me in this situation? Why aren’t you judging the people who are not treating me well? He just talks to God about what is on his heart and he also talks to God when he’s feeling great and loving God and thankful, praising God for so many things in his life.

He’s honest. He’s real, and that’s what God wants.

Don’t feel like you need to pray beautiful prayers, and some people step out in prayer and pray and try to sound great in prayer. Other people don’t pray at all with other people out loud because they are afraid that they don’t sound good in prayer, and both of these people are expressing the same mistake.

The thought that prayer is a performance, and if some people say I can’t perform well enough, so I won’t pray out loud, others think I can perform well and so they pray out loud.

Both of those are mistakes. God just wants to hear your heart. Listen to what Jesus goes on to say in the passage we’ve been looking at this week.

He says, and when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen.

Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Don’t be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him.

Pray honest open prayers. Don’t put on a performance. Just pray what’s in your heart.

And John North.

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