In teaching about prayer, there is this second thing that Jesus says not to do when praying ( the first was do not do it for show, so that other people will see you praying, but pray privately to God alone, and He will reward you openly )
Here Jesus, and again, ( He seems to be anticipating that we would pray, or expecting that we would pray ) says, "do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words" Matt 6:7
What does this mean?
First of all, He is talking about what heathens or unsaved, or pagan peoples did and do even today in their saying many words to their deities or gods. Jesus says, do not follow this example of thinking that you must repeat over and over for effect, and with the hope of somehow pleasing God, and of getting Him to do what you want Him to do. Simply, don't do that.
Secondly, He explains the false belief the heathen have, which is not true in any way, and of course is not true when it comes to our praying to the one and only and true living God. Don't use vain receptions, you don't have to do that, it's not needed, nor does it work.
( By way of explanation......this is what the heathen thought. That if they can just be actively saying certain things, that they can by the repeated use of certain phrases, and or certain sentences etc, etc, they can cause to happen that they want to have happen )
Thirdly, Jesus repeats Himself, and says, "Therefore do not be like them .
Fourthly, and here is the tremendous blessing for us about God and prayer. "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" Matt 6:8
There are a couple of things here. First of all, prayer is in large part, an expression of our need. That's far from the only reason or part of prayer, but it's a very, very real and important part.
Also, God knows everything, and He particularly knows what we have need of before we ask Him. Isn't that wonderful.
And, we can see there then, that prayer is not designed to "inform" God of what our needs are. Why? Because He already knows what they are. So, we are not letting Him in on anything.
I must say, that I think we often do pray like He does not know what is going on.
So, this is a mouthful. What Jesus has said is worth just thinking about for awhile. ( Anything Jesus says is worth thinking about awhile ) But, as we consider prayer, this is very helpful.
Some final quick thoughts for application.
1. Let's try to pray today.
2. Get alone and pray to God.
3. Expect that God hears you.
4. Believe that He hears you.
5. Look for His reward because He promises to reward you.
6. Pray for God, not for others to see you.
7. Remember, God knows what we need,
8. He knows before we say what we need
9. We are not informing Him of anything.
10. What comes to your mind to pray about?
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia
Matt 6: 7* “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Matt 7: 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
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