Devotions

"And in praying do not help up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him." Followed by the Lords Prayer. Matthew 6:7-8

This came from a sermon Jesus gave in Galilee on the Mountain. Personally I believe it is one of the most beautiful sermons ever given. Most of it is eloquent and straight to the point. This particular verse bothered me. I read and reread it several times, then let it go. Yet every time I prayed, I thought of the passage, which was very distracting to say the least. I usually pray silently, but man, you'd think I was talking to my best friend if you could hear me. I thank him for various things, then go over my day, make amends for things, go over my problems, etc. The list goes on, and did this passage ever describe my method of praying as the way NOT to pray.

I refused to believe that I was praying wrong, I feel very close to Jesus and enjoy my 'talks' with him. Keeping on praying just the way I've always done, something occurred to me: A show I'd seen recently. It was a rerun of Friends and Phoebe was trying to find one selfless act she did through out the day to win a bet. She had a hard time doing it I may add. Finally she came up with one after analyzing entire days, something so simple, a Hello.

So after thinking of this, I started to pray, and really paid attention to what I was saying and feeling at the same time. I found that all of the babbling I was doing is for me to get my thoughts together, but my main prayers and the time I felt closest to God was the simple things, straight to the point prayers.

You may be asking what does the episode of friends have to do with this topic? Well, Phoebe's problem was she was looking at a whole array of things and not breaking them down. When we pray, we shouldn't ask for our way or expect it to happen the way we want. Just like Phoebe, we need to bring our prayers to Jesus and leave it at that.

I still babble when I pray, and I don't believe He minds. After all, he wants me to get it together just as much as I do!!

Thought for the day: Take a moment to compare your prayers to the Lords Prayer and notice the similarities.