Heart

SCRIPTURE:  Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:8 NIV

THOUGHT: Ironic that Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray when he offers this promise: your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So, is he teaching them to pray but telling them it’s not really necessary at the same time? I don’t think that’s it at all. He models prayer over and over in his personal life – staying up late, going out early, lifting his eyes to heaven before a meal, agonizing in the garden. It’s not ‘don’t bother to tell God what you need because he already knows,’ it’s more like ‘pray, but trust that he knows and cares about you, and is eager to hear from you.’ We don’t need to use a lot of impressive phrases or solemn mantras. He doesn’t need a bunch of words, he needs to know he has our hearts.

The prayer he teaches the disciples is elegant in simplicity and high on trust. No repeating, no self-deprecation or self-glory, just straight-forward and God-centered. The real irony would be memorizing his words and repeating them over and over without our hearts being fully engaged.

PRAYER: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Mt. 6:9-13)