Learning To Pray Series

a. While there may be time when you pray in public or in the midst of the busyness of the day, make sure you also have a time where you pray alone. Make sure to have a place you go and can pray in complete confidence and privacy. This will help ensure that God is the true audience of your prayers and no one else is.

b. It will help ensure that you won’t quickly lose focus and forget why you’re talking to the Lord in the 1st place. That’s why I try not to make it a habit to pray when I’m in bed b/c I’ve had too many times when sleep has become my distraction and I’ve woken up the next morning only to say “Amen.”

B. But also, private prayer shows respect to God. It demonstrates to Him that you think enough of Him to want to be alone w/Him. I know Emily appreciates it when I take time to talk to her in private and not just when a bunch of people are around. It demonstrates to her that I enjoy being w/her; that I’m interested in what she has to say. And she’s more likely to be responsive to what I say.

1. Jesus is the same way. That’s why He said that God, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you. A question for you is “Are you interested enough in your relationship w/God that you’re willing to talk to Him in private?”

Reit: The 1st tip Jesus gives us on prayer is don’t forget to whom you’re talking. The 2nd tip is go to a place where you can concentrate. And the final tip Jesus gives us on prayer is:

DIV. 3: MEAN WHAT YOU SAY (vv. 7-8)

Exp: A prayer fault Jesus points out here is that of babbling talk like the pagans. “Babbling talk” refers to “meaningless repetition.” Many of the religious people of this day had prescribed prayers that they would recite over and over again. Many people believed, and some still today, that the value of prayer increased w/the more words you used and the more times you said them over and over.

A. It’s almost as though the more you badger God in prayer, the more likely what you’re praying for will happen, as though it were some sort of magical formula. It’s almost as if the more you say it, the more likely God will hear it.

1. Some of us get into the habit of praying for the same things over and over again to the point where what they’re saying doesn’t mean anything anymore. It just becomes a ritual to say the same things.

a. The danger that comes w/repetitious prayer is that our petitions really don’t mean anything after a while. And folks, prayer that’s thoughtless and indifferent is offensive to God. So what should we say when we pray? We should express our true feelings to God. We should lift up concerns and needs that we have. We should confess our sins to God and ask for His forgiveness. We should praise Him for who He is and give Him thanks for specific things He’s done for us.

b. In other words, instead of just babbling on and on to kill time, we need to make sure that we say what we mean. No one likes it when people say or do things they don’t mean. And we sure don’t like it when people do things they don’t mean just so they can benefit from it.