May 25 Devotion - The Lord's Prayer - Introduction

 

Jesus said:

 

“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. ⁶ 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. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 

وَعِنْدَمَا تُصَلُّونَ، لَا تَكُونُوا مِثْلَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يُصَلُّوا وَاقِفِينَ فِي الْمَجَامِعِ وَفِي زَوَايَا الشَّوَارِعِ لِيَرَاهُمُ النَّاسُ. الْحَقَّ أَقُولُ لَكُمْ: إِنَّهُمْ قَدْ نَالُوا مُكَافَأَتَهُمْ. 6 أَمَّا أَنْتَ، فَعِنْدَمَا تُصَلِّي، فَادْخُلْ غُرْفَتَكَ، وَأَغْلِقِ الْبَابَ عَلَيْكَ، وَصَلِّ إِلَى أَبِيكَ الَّذِي فِي الْخَفَاءِ. وَأَبُوكَ الَّذِي يَرَى فِي الْخَفَاءِ، هُوَ يُكَافِئُكَ. 7 وَعِنْدَمَا تُصَلُّونَ، لَا تُكَرِّرُوا كَلاماً فَارِغاً كَمَا يَفْعَلُ الْوَثَنِيُّونَ، ظَنّاً مِنْهُمْ أَنَّهُ بِالإِكْثَارِ مِنَ الْكَلامِ، يُسْتَجَابُ لَهُمْ. 8 فَلاَ تَكُونُوا مِثْلَهُمْ، لأَنَّ أَبَاكُمْ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَحْتَاجُونَ إِلَيْهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَسْأَلُوهُ.

Matthew 6:5-8

 

Jesus is teaching us and cautioning us not to call attention to ourselves in prideful ways as we practise our faith. The Sadducees and the Pharisees, who were the Jewish religious teachers, were attracting attention to themselves when they were praying instead of pointing to God.  

Jesus also cautions us not to keep repeating and babbling as we pray because pagans did that. God will not hear us just because we keep repeating. Unfortunately we still fall in this trap individually and in groups and in certain churches where the same prayer is sometimes repeated over 100 times.

Unlike the Sadducees, we are to believe everything the Bible says, including the miraculous and the afterlife. Unlike the Pharisees, we are not to treat traditions as having equal authority as Scripture, and we are not to allow our relationship with God to be reduced to a legalistic list of rules and rituals.

 

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and Your unfailing, deep, everlasting and inseparable love. LORD, I pray that out of Your glorious riches You strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that I can pray in the manner that pleases You and builds an intimate relationship with You. Strengthen me Jesus so that I always point to You and give You the glory. Abba Father You know what I need before I ask and I pray that You will help me to pray for the ‘right’ things and to trust Your choice and timing. Help me to pray without repeating words uselessly. I declare to the world that Christ is my Lord and Saviour. God I praise You, glorify You, and lift You up on high. In the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords, in the holy mighty name of Your only begotten Son Jesus, I pray to You Father God. To Jesus be the power, the glory, the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

In Him,

Wagdi Henein