Have you ever said something so many times that it lost its meaning? I remember sitting as a child and saying “beaver” or “gopher” over and over until it sounded foreign and alien. There was a day when I was praying over my dinner a few years ago and I simply recited the same prayer I had always said. It covered the basics: “Dear Jesus, thank you for today. Thank you for this food. Keep us safe and help us have a good time with each other. Amen.” The words had true value, I guess, but it was devoid of true belief, wanting, or faith. I don’t believe that God listened to those prayers. Why? Because I didn’t even listen to those prayers. They had lost meaning and sounded like nonsense.
Now, when it was Christmas or Sunday school and I was asked to pray, suddenly, I had a lot more to say. But still I wasn’t listening to those prayers, because I was listening for eyes to be on me, for nodding heads, and for the sound of applause.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8)
I’ve learned in my walk that, yes, God listens to our words, but He also listens to our hearts. Even more than our words, God desires our hearts. He is not impressed with what we say if it cannot be fact-checked by the belief of our will and understanding. The Father sent his Word into the world so that the Word, who was made flesh, might lead us back to the heart of the Father. Do our prayers reflect this? Do our words lead the Father back to our heart? Do we seek the Father’s heart? If you think that the hand of God is greater than the heart of God, you have a misunderstanding. A pet desires the hand of His master for affirmation and food. A child desires the heart of a parent for unconditional love and enjoyment. And the Father is not impressed by words of devotion that lack substance. If you don’t believe it, why would He?
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Believe me, the Father wants to listen. He wants to give. If you don’t believe me, read John chapters 14-17. Jesus says over and over and over again that if you ask the Father for anything in Christ, He will give it. He even goes so far as to say:
“In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” (John 16:26-27)
He says that the Father himself loves us and we will not even have to go through Jesus because we have a full relationship with God the Father!!! And Jesus is adamant:
“In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23-24)
The purpose of prayer is deeper than asking for worldly things. The purpose is deeper than sounding well put-together. The purpose is living in faith that our Father is good, that He loves when we share our hearts with Him, and that talking with Him actually overflows our spirits with joy. He is not worried about your insecurities, He cares about your sincerity. He is not worried about your debility, for His power is perfect in your weakness. He is not concerned with your inability, He responds to your faith in the midst of discomfort. And He will not listen to empty babble and self-righteous blathering. When you seek Him with everything, you will find Him. And if you do not seek to find Him, you will not find Him. It’s pretty simple like that.
I challenge you this week to say the thing to God that you’ve been afraid to talk about with Him. Maybe you think He will be angry, maybe you think it is a waste of His time. No matter the reason to not, I challenge you to sit down and talk with Him about it. And be ready to meet His grace.
“God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of redemption alters the way we look at things.” good old oswald. thanks or sharing phil, this is a good one.
this is really, really good. needed this reminder. thanks for sharing Phillip.
Philip, I recently read that there are always two conversations going on with any interaction – the one that is spoken with words, and the one that is spoken with the heart, and we really want both of those conversations to be true. I guess it’s the same with prayer, and God really just wants us to be honest with the conversation that comes from the heart more even than the conversation that comes from the tongue. Thanks for the reminder.