RESPONSIBLE TO GOD 22

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO PRAY

Mt 6:5-6 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. (6) But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

PRAYER IS PERSONAL

Over the years I have struggled with praying out loud in public. If I am called on I will pray in public. I pray out loud when my wife and I eat, yes even in restaurants, and I pray out loud when we have our morning prayers together but even at these times I am a little self conscious about it because I am not talking to those around me. I am talking to God.

It is much like the little boy who was saying his prayers in a very quiet voice. His mother said, "I can't hear you." The little boy responded, "That's alright, I wasn't talking to you." It is extremely important when we pray to remember that we are talking to our Heavenly Father and not to the people who might be listening. By the way, God can understand modern English and every other language so you don't have to speak to Him in old English.

One more note, there are some who try to complicate prayer. There were three preachers arguing about what the best posture for prayer was and a telephone repairman was listening. One said you should stand with your arms raised toward heaven, another said that you should kneel when you pray, the last said that you should lie on your face in humility and that was the best position. The telephone repairman said, "I don't know about you guys but some of the best praying I ever did was when I was hanging upside down from a telephone pole."

The point I am trying to make is prayer is not complicated, it is not for the people around you, it is a communication between you and God. Talk to Him, He is your heavenly father.

 

Please feel free to contact me by email at

shilohkosciusko with questions, comments or even suggestions for further devotional studies. @gmail.com

If you know of someone new to the Kosciusko area and would like for our church to visit them please let us know. Our prayers are that this devotional ministry will be an outreach to bring people into a closer relationship with Jesus. I do appreciate you taking the time to read these devotionals and please keep us in your prayers.