How to Pray

In Matthew 6:7 Jesus said, “When you pray, don’t use vain repetitions like the heathen do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.” There are religions today that teach their adherents that the goal of prayer is to pray a mantra. A mantra is a series of syllables or words that when prayed repeatedly and in rapid succession disengage the normal thought processes to get to some “higher plane” of consciousness. Jesus said, “don’t pray this way.” Instead, Jesus taught that prayer is to be an intimate conversation with God, extolling Him for His goodness and faithfulness to us.

In verse 9 Jesus shows us how to pray, saying, “Our Father”….. Even when praying this prayer, the goal is not how many repetitions you can pray this prayer in x number of minutes. No! The goal is to commune with our Heavenly Father. To say, “My Father, You are in heaven, and holy is Your name. Let Your kingdom be established here on earth as we know it is established in heaven. Your will is what I desire to be accomplished in my life. You are my faithful provider, so thank You for providing my daily bread, and really everything that I have need of today. Thank You for sending Your only Son to die on the cross for my sins, and for offering forgiveness of all my trespasses. As I receive Your forgiveness, I in turn forgive others. In this life, temptations are all around, yet with every temptation I face, You provide a way of escape, delivering me from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.”

Prayer is simple, personal communion with the creator of the universe. That’s how Jesus taught us to pray.

Prepare the Soil

Jesus shares a teaching recorded in Matthew 13 where He explains how it is possible for the Word of God to enter a man’s heart and produce an abundant harvest. This harvest may result in the benefits of salvation, healing, love, joy and peace to name just a few. Jesus also tells us that there are certain “heart” conditions that will hinder this abundant harvest. The first heart condition Jesus speaks of that will not produce any kingdom benefits is a hard heart. A hard heart is a heart rooted in pride. A hard heart says “God, I can handle this myself, I don’t need you.” A hard heart might say “I pray, I go to church, I do a lot of good works, therefore, I am fine like I am, I don’t really need to come to God; I’ve got this.” A person with this condition might be very intelligent, might be well educated, but hardness of heart prevents this person from accepting even simple basic truths of the Christian faith.

But, praise God, there is an answer to a hard heart: Humility. James 4:6 says “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humbling our hearts before God is likened to plowing up the hard soil, so that the seed of God’s Word can produce in our lives. Then the Holy Spirit is able to help us understand the hard concepts of faith so our lives can be changed by God’s power. In verse 23 Jesus further explains, “What was sown on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown.” In the natural, planting time is right around the corner. Is your heart ready to receive the seed of God’s Word?

The Cost of Compromise

Our men’s group has been studying the book “Model Man” by Larry Stockstill. Chapter two deals with the subject of compromise and shows how costly moral compromise can be. In Judges 13 we see how the parents of Samson were told by an angel of the Lord that their child born to them would deliver Israel from their enemies and was to be a Nazirite from birth. The Nazirites had only three rules they were required to follow. 1. Never touch a grape or drink wine. 2. Never touch a dead body. 3. Never cut your hair.

Samson did follow these rules most of his life, and God used him mightily to deliver Israel.  Yet slowly, Samson allowed compromise to seep into his life. In Judges 14 we see him in a vineyard putting his hand into the carcass of a lion to gather honey. What was Samson doing in a vineyard, and why did he touch a dead lion? Breaking the first two rules of a Nazirite made it easy for Samson to break the third rule when he let Delilah cut his hair.  The result was his supernatural strength left him and the waiting Philistines whom Delilah worked for gauged out Samson’s eyes. Samson’s compromise cost him dearly, even ending his life prematurely.     

Compromise starts very subtly. Samson did not wake up one morning and decide to “sell out” all his moral convictions. Compromise brought the “sell out” over a period of time. The answer to compromise is to first be a person of conviction. To be convinced God’s way is the right way, and choosing to walk in the Spirit, in God’s power every day. As we yield to the Holy Spirit, He provides the power to walk in grace, in integrity and obedience to God. Not compromising our moral convictions will yield benefits not only for us personally, but for generations to come.

What is Spreading in Our Lives?

Leaven is a term used 39 times in the bible, and scripture usually refers to leaven as a type of sin.  When God gave Moses instructions for celebrating the Passover, they were told to remove all leaven from their houses and eat unleavened bread.  This was the way Israel prepared for the Passover, which set the stage for their deliverance from judgment.

In the New Testament, Jesus tells his followers to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees."  Here, Jesus explains leaven is the corrupt teaching of the Pharisees.  In 1Corinthians 5 the Apostle Paul refers to leaven as sexual immorality and pride. Paul tells the church to purge out the old leaven (of sin and wickedness) and be a new lump of truly unleavened dough.  Paul is saying that just as leaven is able to spread quickly and thoroughly through the whole batch of dough, so sin can spread through the church if it is not addressed.  

We all know sin is displeasing to God, and the scripture say’s “all have sinned”.  But, is it really possible to do what Paul is telling the church?  Is it possible to “purge out sin” from our lives?  Jesus said, “What is impossible with man, is possible with God."  Only through the saving grace offered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary can we be forgiven.  And only through the power of God that comes when a life surrenders to the lordship of Jesus Christ can we live a life that pleases Him.  Removing leaven is a type of consecrating our lives for the Lords service.  We can simply say, “Lord Jesus, I turn away from sin and wickedness and commit my life to You.  Help me to follow You and live a life that is pleasing to You.  Amen.”