The Tone of Prayer • Devotion 2: To Be Seen in Prayer
Pastor John Carter
Some of you will be able to relate to the story I am about to share. If you grew up in church, at some point you gathered around food and someone was asked to bless the food for all those present. Now as a kid, my hunger always seemed to control me. When someone would pray for the food, I always had the thought, “Man, hurry up; I am so hungry!”
I also noticed that there were some who, when they prayed, seemed to pray about things other than the food. This really annoyed me as a hungry little boy. It was like a whole sermon in a prayer (a mini sermon if you will). I am not here to criticize the way people pray or what they pray about. I am simply talking about how sometimes when we say we are praying to God, we are actually praying in a way that other people hear us.
Matthew 6:5 says, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.”
This week we are going to walk through the contrast between genuine prayer and disingenuous prayer. As we dwell on the verse written above, we can clearly see the instruction of Jesus is to contrast one’s actions with the motives of their heart. Examining the manner in which we pray is less important than examining the motive by which we pray. In other words, are you talking to God or are you talking for someone that is in the crowd or maybe in earshot of your prayer? It is interesting that Jesus points out the visual in something that is mostly an act of audio. He says that hypocrites love to be seen by others.
Have you ever considered how people view you in your prayers? Let me go one step further. What about when you tell someone you will “pray for them”? Is that genuine or is that something you just say to make the other person feel good? Ouch! That hurt!
I want to share a story that I think perfectly encapsulates the point of today’s devotion.
We were going to one of the many activities we have at The River Church. This particular activity involved kids and I invited a family to come and hang out at this kids’ activity. I had spent some time with the Dad of the child and there were several times when I expressed that I would be praying for him and his family. We were all in the car and the little child said she has a question she wanted to ask me. I am always eager to hear the inquisitive mind of a child. I do not think there is anything in the Word to help prepare me for what she proceeded to ask me! “Pastor John, when you say you are going to pray for us, do you really mean it? Or are you just saying it to make us feel better?”
A nine-year-old child had already been exposed to the hypocrisy of the church. Man, my heart broke for that little girl. She was intuitive as she had already seen the difference between one who just says something versus someone who actually does what they say they will do!
You can be sure that I prayed with a whole new fervency after that conversation.
Today’s devotion is all about examining the motive of our prayers. Is it to be seen by others? Is it to make others feel better about themselves, or is there a genuine heart to go to the Almighty God and put our petitions before Him? Do we approach God with the faith that He cares to hear and listen to us? Do we make time dedicated to talking to our Heavenly Father? Take some time today, one-on-one with God! If you told people you would pray for them, then do it! The time we get to be with God is worth more than anything else we could ever have.