And When You Pray...

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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
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.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. –  Jesus (Matt. 6:5-8)

“Lord, we thank you for the visitors with us this Sunday morning, who are filing out their blue visitor registration cards in the bulletins – not the white camp info cards, but the blue ones – and passing them to the aisles….”

Ever heard a public prayer and thought, “Wait a minute!  Just who is he talking to?!”  Public prayer is a difficult thing.  Our insecurities can get the best of us and we may end up so distracted by our listening peers that we forget who we’re really talking to.

Well, that seems to be the point Jesus is making about hypocrites and pagans (ouch!).  We – ah, I mean, they forget whom they’re talking to when they speak to God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.  He will not be impressed by their social standing or by the word-count of their prayers.  He looks for sincerity of heart in a pray-er.  God does not need to be informed on the needs of the pray-er.  He knows them.

So, evidently educating God to our needs is not the purpose of prayer.  Prayer is more to the purpose of educating us, the pray-ers, to the realization of who God is as we kneel humbly dependent before Him.  The true significance of our needs then becomes clearer.  We begin to see the resolution of our needs only and exclusively in God who is the giver and author of ALL we have and are.  And if a “need” brings us to that relationship with God, perhaps we could call it a “blessing.”  Then, in a burst of joy we may find ourselves exclaiming, “Wait a minute!  Just WHO am I talking to?!!”