By David ReayFriday 5 Sep 2014LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Matthew 6:6
“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet,secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God,and you will begin to sense his grace. (THE MESSAGE)
The big temptation in public prayer is to show off,which is what Jesus warns against here. One antidote to that is to emphasise the personal and even private nature of most prayer,which is what Jesus does here. When it is just God and me,I am not so tempted to resort to role playing.
And yet another temptation comes into play. Our minds are restlessly wandering. It is so hard to focus on God. Just about anything will distract us. If we focus on these distractions we can surrender to despair. Prayer just doesn’t seem to work. Which is just what the evil one wants us to think.
Better to accept that our minds do wander and let those wandering thoughts just go. Don’t fight them,just release them and get back to praying. And if they truly don’t go,perhaps God himself is prompting you to pray regarding that thought. It could be it is no interruption at all but rather a legitimate redirection of your prayer focus. The person who comes to mind as you doggedly persist in praying for something quite different might be in need of prayer at that very moment.
The very worst thing we can do is to give up. We offer God our restless and unfocussed thoughts,our incomplete attention,and pray he will deal gently with us. We pray as we can,not as we can’t.
Blessings
David Reay