Trust and Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15)
Just as we are to trust God and not some religious system, we are also to avoid placing our trust in prayer.
The reason that sounds so wrong is because we tend to surrender to the pull of religious ceremony. It is easier to mindlessly follow a system, than to live life relating to a real, personal, God. If we are not careful, we fall into a pattern of living that is hard to distinguish from any other empty, superstitious, totem belief.
Jesus warns us to not be like those who follow such religion. But we fall so quickly into these patterns. Pray before every meal—usually repeating the same words—not out of conscious gratitude but because it is the totem, magic incantation that is expected of us.
Prayer does not have power. The God, Creator of the universe who loves us as His children does. We talk to Him and trust Him to take care of our needs. We do not have a magic spell we can utter to change the world, even if many seems to end every prayer with just such a rote formulaic incantation.
Jesus’ example prayer is a further demonstration of this. The things Jesus tells us to pray for show a trust in God and His plans. We pray to God the Father and no one else. We give Him the praise He alone deserves. We pray for His plans to be accomplished because we trust His plans to be best. We ask for our basic needs. We ask for forgiveness, as we are willing to give. We seek His help in not straying from His ways.
Stop placing your faith in a magic version of prayer. Instead, trust in God and talk to Him all the time as a child would a father.
The reason that sounds so wrong is because we tend to surrender to the pull of religious ceremony. It is easier to mindlessly follow a system, than to live life relating to a real, personal, God. If we are not careful, we fall into a pattern of living that is hard to distinguish from any other empty, superstitious, totem belief.
Jesus warns us to not be like those who follow such religion. But we fall so quickly into these patterns. Pray before every meal—usually repeating the same words—not out of conscious gratitude but because it is the totem, magic incantation that is expected of us.
Prayer does not have power. The God, Creator of the universe who loves us as His children does. We talk to Him and trust Him to take care of our needs. We do not have a magic spell we can utter to change the world, even if many seems to end every prayer with just such a rote formulaic incantation.
Jesus’ example prayer is a further demonstration of this. The things Jesus tells us to pray for show a trust in God and His plans. We pray to God the Father and no one else. We give Him the praise He alone deserves. We pray for His plans to be accomplished because we trust His plans to be best. We ask for our basic needs. We ask for forgiveness, as we are willing to give. We seek His help in not straying from His ways.
Stop placing your faith in a magic version of prayer. Instead, trust in God and talk to Him all the time as a child would a father.
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