James 4:2 & 3
You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain:
you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not.
You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss,
that you may consume it upon your lusts.
If the motivation behind the prayer doesn't line up with God's Word, not only will the prayer not be answered, but God will not even hear it. God can see what we are thinking. God can hear what we are not saying. The majority of prayers appearing to be directed to God are not for God at all. We are like the two men in the synagogue that Jesus taught about.
Matthew 6:5 -8 is the precursor to what is commonly called The Lord's Prayer. But these verses are seldom remembered whereas The Lord's Prayer is well remembered and quoted often. Verse 5 reminds us that people who love the sound of their own voice want to share their voice and so they pray to be heard by others, but not God. Verse 6 reminds us that God likes to have quiet conversations with us, preferably alone. And then, not only will He be able to hear us, He will answer us.
Verse 7 reminds us to be honest when we talk with God. He wants to hear what we are thinking, what is in our hearts, what is on our minds. Vain repetitions are, again, not from the heart, but from the vanity of the soul. It is vanity which separates us from God. With this chasm of self pulling He and I apart, the only thing that will allow us into God's presence is unselfish surrender and submission.
Verse 8 tells us not to be like those who love themselves more than they love God. God knows what we need before we ask Him. But He likes to be asked. Don't we all enjoy giving?
OUR FATHER
(we know Who You are)
WHO ART IN HEAVEN
(we know where You live)
HALLOWED BE THY NAME
(we worship You)
THY KINGDOM COME
(live in us)
THY WILL BE DONE
(teach us to live in You)
IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
(here and now forever and ever)
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD
(as we read Your Word/Scriptures every day)
AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS (sins)
AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS
(those who sin against us)
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL
(place our steps on Your pathway
and keep our hearts focused)
FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM
(the Kingdom of God is a place of going &
the Kingdom of Heaven is a method of doing)
AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOREVER.
(all power comes from God and is God)
AMEN.
(And so shall it ever be)
Matthew 6:9-13
Are you motivated now?
While I was praying for my brother-in-law Joe and working on his birthday present this year, I just asked the Lord for a caption. But God gave a song!
