Matthew 6:6-8 English Standard Version

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

We are not all alike and yet since “we” are the body of Christ, being many different parts, “we” all answer to the “head”, our Lord. This is a simple principle to complex situations.

God knows what we need. Do we?

James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

That is a clear commentary of the content of many prayers, that many ask for what they want rather than what they need.

• Psalm 5:8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
• Psalm 25:5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
• Psalm 27:11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

Since He is Lord and the head of the body and “we” listen to Him, those are some examples of prayers that just might steer us away from praying from a place of self-interest.

My personal favorite as I open up His Word each day is: “Where are we going today?”

Is what we pray for insignificant in the eyes of our Lord? We are told after all; Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” If our prayers are for the needs of others, it is not a bad thing.

Bearing the burdens of others goes beyond prayer. Many times we don’t have the resources to help so many people that have a greater need than our own.

Franklin Graham recently said in an ad from North Carolina, “I don’t need your money, I need your prayers.” Now that is one extreme demonstration of faith in prayer. He had money, he had people on the ground, what he needed was our prayers. That is not an unreasonable request.

Have “we” neglected to pray because “we” don’t think God will answer?

James 5:16b The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

What is our perception of perfection? What does that look like?

I will admit it is unfair to ask this question of others since I have struggled so hard with it myself. I struggled with it because of just one word, must. My Lord has said to me that I must, and since He is Lord and I am His to command, then I must.

In order to do what we must, it takes an understanding of the task at hand in order to do what we are told to do. Sometimes I think about what others were told and how they obeyed. For instance Saul was struck blind on the road to Damascus. Then he was told Acts 9:6 “But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Men who had not heard our Lord helped him into the city and led him to the house of Judas on the street called “Straight.” There in his blindness he prayed and saw in a vision one called Anninias was to come and restore his sight.

We are like that. We need help from others, even if it is the blind leading the blind, getting us to a point where we can stop and pray. We don’t know exactly what Paul prayed but we know what we want to pray about. So we pray.

Lord I am blind, show me how to do what I “must” do. Amen

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

So then, leaning on our own understanding is a form of blindness and we must trust the Lord to lead us to that place where our eyes will be opened.

Matthew 5:48 is the last verse under the heading “Love Your Enemies”. The word therefore precedes the word “must” so we must love. It seems impossible to understand perfectly and now I am being asked to love perfectly? How can I do that Lord?

“Trust me!” says the Lord.

Psalm 91:14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.”