stephen R Harrison

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus preached and taught the basics of Christianity, with prayer being one of the foundational teachings. Jesus showed prayer was not a suggestion but a necessity. He said, “When you pray”, not “if you pray.” Prayer is vital to our Christian faith. It is how we communicate (which is talking and listening) to God. “When you pray” reveals that Jesus fully expects us to talk to Him. We must not forget to pray. Seeking God is the purpose of fasting. Without prayer, you are just on another fad diet. You might as well eat if you don’t pray during a fast because the two are married together.  

There are some basics of a powerful prayer life listed in Matthew 6:5-8. First, Jesus said, “Don’t be like the hypocrites.” He was simply stating that prayer isn’t a show for others to see or hear but is reserved as an intimate time with the Lord. Those who flaunt their fancy prayers in front of others receive their reward of being seen. But I’d rather be heard by God than seen by man any day. Second, Jesus says to, “Go into your room, close the door, and pray…” Distractions can keep us from intimate prayer. It is best to put away everything that can distract you from seeking God. Some use their phone app for their Bible. I suggest not doing that during serious prayer and study. It’s too easy to switch over to social media or answer that text that just arrived. Go old school and use a paper Bible. After all, it’s worked for hundreds of years! Find a quiet room and time. A good time for me is before my kids wake up or after everyone has gone to bed. 

Another good point here is, “the Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” “Secret” really means “hidden” or “hideaway”. It is really a harbor or refuge. This is a time of solace and meditation on the Lord. You will have to fight wandering thoughts and idle thinking. Disciplining your mind and concentrating on Him takes practice, but the reward is knowing Him. Don’t think about what needs to be done – close the door – slam it on the world and its problems. This will open up the door to His presence and power.

Our prayer should not be ramblings either. We should focus our prayers specifically. How many times do you have to pray for something before God hears you?  Once. It doesn’t mean we can never pray it again, but we must trust Him in His timing and process. Prayer is not begging. I tend to ramble a lot and must remind myself to get to the point. You aren’t trying to cut your prayer time short by making bullet points, nor are you trying to hurry up because God is busy. Pagan prayers were polished verbal formulas. They repeated the same things over and over, almost in a loud, chanting style. A mistake usually required the action or sometimes the entire festival to be restarted. Prayer was a recitation of formulas. It was more about outward appearances and perfection as a means necessary to get answers from the various deities. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is reminding the Christian that God hears your prayer and knows your need before you even ask. The amount or order of the words is not the important factor – it’s the heart.