GodSprings - 23, March, 2017

Am I Who I Appear to Be?

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Luke 6:6-8

David Day, British preacher and author has written a book titled, Preaching With All You’ve Got. This is a book wherein the title itself tells a lot many things. Day says that a preacher should be able to stand before his/her congregation and say, “I am who I appear to be.” There are, of course, things we don’t share with others for a variety of good reason, but being able to say, “I am who I appear to be” is a good goal for all Christians.”

The contrast between the inward and outward motivation runs through Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. The question that is being put forward is, is the motivation, loyalty and devotion to God or the desire for the good opinion of others?

During Jesus’ time, it was only the Pharisees who expended a lot of energy in trying to appear to be someone or something they may or may not be. Today it’s a common phenomenon among all.

The Jews of Jesus’ time had prayers for everything. The usual habit was to find out what the prayer was and learn it and whenever something happened, that prayer was said. The original intention of the rabbis might surely be to bring into everything the presence and essence of God. But instead, it became a total commitment to the prescribed and predigested prayers.

Jesus knew the importance of prayer. When we look into the Bible we see that Jesus would rise before dawn and go into the mountain to pray. In the evenings, he would take his place to commune with the Father, and often pray with the Father all night long.

In the above verses, Jesus is simply saying to the Pharisees and to us to today to be careful how we pray. Jesus warns us not to take the matter of prayer lightly. It’s of great importance. The word hypocrite occurs thirteen times in Matthew.

We all like to give the impression that we are better than we are. Jesus is warning the disciples against putting on an act in prayer. Among the Jews to be sees as a praying person was a very desirable thing. Such a person was admired and respected by all. So, those who wanted to be admired used to put on an act that they were pious by standing up where they could be clearly seen in the synagogues or street corners at the time of prayer. Jesus says that such people have already got an answer with regard to what men and women think about them.

We need to understand that the person is not being judged because he/she is praying in public but it is the intention that is being judged here. When Jesus gave the disciples the Lord’s prayer Jesus was not telling them that by repeating this you will have prayed enough. What Jesus was telling was that this is the pattern that we should keep in mind when we pray.

We are meant to be a people of prayer. You don’t need all the fancy words. He just wants us to come with a heart that desires Him and the things of the Kingdom.

This Lenten season can we be more serious about prayer and be the real us rather than ones who pretend?