Scripture Passage
(Ya know, I never clasp my
hands like this when I pray)
Scripture Focus
“When you pray…” (Matthew 6:5 NLT)
Observation
I know, I know—I’m focusing on an insignificant introductory phrase while there’s absolutely oodles of deep truth tucked away in every verse! (I mean, c’mon, Kent, you’ve got the Lord’s Prayer in today’s passage!) Still, the beauty of being the guy writing the blog is that *I* get to choose what captures *my* attention—and this phrase did.
You see, opening a sentence with “when you pray” assumes you do. But I’m not sure that’s as much of a given for us as it might have been for Jesus’ original audience. Our rationalistic worldview often pushes from our minds any abiding awareness of God’s intimate involvement in our days. Our hyper-loaded calendars pack our existence with so much activity that there’s often no time left to pray.
And we fight to overcome that by promising ourselves we’ll find a few minutes for prayer a little later (maybe just as soon as we’ve finished checking Facebook) or by turning the radio off for a bit on the morning commute. But surely God has more significant intentions for prayer than that!
One of my favorite Calvin Miller quotes comes to mind. Though I recognize that he’s writing of corporate worship, not personal prayer, the principles still apply. Miller says…
"We cannot possibly flatter the Almighty by hurrying into his presence, flinging a song and prayer at him, and hurrying out of church back into our hassled lifestyles. God is never flattered by our sanctified exhaustion."
Oh, that “when you pray” would be a given in our lives! What kind of difference might that make? What kind of changes might occur—in us—if each day had dedicated moments for honoring the name of God, imploring His complete will in our lives, inviting His supply, and welcoming His strength in spiritual battle (all the basics of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6)?
Enough writing…it’s time to pray.
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