And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. — Luke 18:1
Pray for those who persecute you. — Matt. 5:44
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. — Matt. 6:6
And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do. — Matt. 6:7-8
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” — Matt. 6:9
Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. — Matt. 9:38
How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! — Luke 11:13
Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. — John 16:24
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. — John 14:13
3 comments:
Three times in the beginning on Matt 6 Christ talks about God being secretive. This brings me back to Prov 25:2 - "in His glory God conceals a matter..."
God is omniscient. He is all knowing. He knows what we need.
So why the secrets? What do we achieve by searching out?
We become kings. We come closer to Him because the searching leads us to the Light, the Word, the Gospel. The struggle leads us to Jesus.
Let's tell ourselves the Gospel everday. (Jerry Bridges)
I don't know about you guys, but some of my biggest battles are with myself. I do something "right" like praying, etc. and then some part of me looks around to find out who is watching me. I need the discipline of being alone.
I remember being at the Toyota Center in Houston at a Michael W. Smith concert. I was down toward the front, lost in the moment in my own little world and worshiping God. All was well until a camera man put me on the big screen for 15,000 or so to see. When I noticed him, what did I do? I had a "Hi Mom" moment, waving at the camera. What an idiot!
Me, I need to pray a lot - by myself, in private, to my God - so that when I am in public, the selfishness of my flesh doesn't trump the fruit of the Spirit.
Great comments David.
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