03/14/2024
Sometimes when we are in a battle against the hardships of life we can become so involved in the struggle, and desperately calling upon the Lord in prayer, that even though we are saying the words, our depth of devotion and loving heart is absent from them. My devotional reading this morning warned against this, and today we will turn to a verse in Isaiah 29 to understand this further.
“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”
Isaiah 29:13 KJV
Pastor E.M. Bounds wrote of this too when he said: "devotion engages the heart in prayer." Bringing our devotion and heart into our prayers allows them to reach fullness and for us to feel the joy and confidence in the endeavor. Dry words of prayer are devoid of the love and respect that are such a part of our relationship with our Heavenly Father; and they reduce us from loving believers, children, and friends, to the level of acquaintances. How are we praying? Is our devotion to God loving and full?
I can walk into a room full of married couples and in a few moments know who is married to whom just by the way they speak to one another. Husbands and wives speak to each other with a deep familiarity and a tone of love, while friends and acquaintances lack that depth and the words are more matter of fact in nature. Likewise, I can tell you which couples are dear friends and which have just met. There is nothing mystical about this ability, we each possess it, and we use this same sense when we hear others pray.
We pray in church, at the beginning of meetings, before meals, before trials in our lives... The list goes on. The prayers we hear in the course of our day can have varying degrees of heart and devotion associated with them, and we can sense those degrees almost immediately. Separating the ones offered as a matter of performance from those which come from the heart is easy. We hear the difference in the choice of words, the inflection, the manner of delivery, and often with the tears and emotion they include. We also come to know the depth of a relationship by sensing the father/child nature of the conversation by feeling the honor, love, and ease of these things as they flow between them in prayer.
Our prayers, even those in public settings, should be heartfelt and with a concentration on God, and with whom we are communicating… our Father, protector, provider, and the giver of life, and creator of the universe. Using prayers as a means of demonstration bears no fruit in heaven.
“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
Matthew 6:5-6 KJV
Prayers following a sermon that morph into teaching aids or to drive home an idea to a congregation as a simple extension to the homily should be curtailed... Teaching should be limited to the sermon or speech. Prayers are a matter of the heart and the linking of ourselves with God. Never stop speaking with the Lord in them and turn your comments to those who are listening. If a prayer losses its devotion then it ceases to be a prayer and becomes any other oration, or quite simply, a pretense.
As we pray today let's begin by concentrating on being still, and then as that wonderful quietness of the soul fills us, let's focus on the affection and confidence we have in our Father. In this longing of the soul to honor and love Him we will find that our devotion will well up within us, and in that hushed moment of worship, and within that spiritual place and frame of mind, our total being will reach out to the Lord, and we will feel the presence of the Father with whom we wish to speak and reveal our hearts. Some call this preparing ourselves to enter into the presence of God, or preparing to pray, and these are good ways of describing how we should enter into prayer. So, let’s begin our prayers today by preparing ourselves, asking forgiveness to purify ourselves in Christ, expressing our love and devotion for our Father, seeking the will of God, and then… and only then… let’s ask or talk with Him about the things on our minds.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us, and hearing not only the words from our mouths as we pray, but the outpouring of our hearts that accompany them. Thank you Lord for the prayers we find in your Word, and the gospel of Jesus, that lead us personally into proper prayer. Help us to seek you secretly in our prayer closets, and to remove our shoes as we step with love, honor, and respect, onto this Holy Ground that surrounds you. Let our souls feel you presence, and experience the filling of your Spirit in this time of worship and spiritual conversation. You are our God, and we call out to you Holy, Holy, Holy, as we acknowledge who you are. Our worship and praise prompts us to sing out Hallelujah, and to say from our hearts “Praise the Lord my God”, to all heaven and earth. Hear the love in our voices Abba, and feel the humility in our prayerful posture and demeanor. Let none of our pride enter into this place, nor reveal itself in the words we pray. Let our will subject itself entirely to yours as we obey your commands, and faithfully do all that you desire of us. Let our feet be clean and all of the worldly filth and temptation be left behind us as we step into heaven with you. We know that you reside in heaven, and that where you are it is also, so teach us to remove our shoes, even as Moses and Joshua did, before setting foot on this your Holy ground of prayer and communion. Although you know our needs, and desires, before we begin to ask, it is for us, and our understanding of you, that we must ask. It is in acknowledging you as the provider of all things that keeps us from claiming your glory, and thinking highly of ourselves… so help us to do this Holy Father.
We pray that you will always find our prayers acceptable to you Lord, and give us your peace and rest when at last we leave this earthly place, and enter into holy eternity with you through one final act of prayer in this body, spoken in silent reverence from that secret place deep within us. From our first prayer to this our last, let them all be offered unto you in love, honor, and humility.
Amen
“Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.””
Exodus 3:5 ESV
Rich Forbes