February 16 - Prayer

Matthew 6:5-8  

When you pray…not “IF” you pray. Go into your room, close the door, and pour your heart out to the Father. What is prayer, if not pouring your heart out!  Jesus tells us not to babble like the pagens. Get your act together and say what you mean. There are lots of books out there on prayer---but a simple acrostic that I learned a long time ago is a good format to follow. ACTS:  Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Keep your prayer short and to the point—God already knows what you need---and He will supply it---but do simply ask for it. Jesus also taught, probably just a few minutes later,  to Ask, Seek and Knock. See Matthew 7:7-8.

Babbling. Usually we think of babbling associated with a stream of water…a babbling brook or a babbling baby. A babble is meaningless word sounds. Consider the pagans that worship Baal, in 1 Kings 18:17-46, when Elijah and Ahab met on top of Mount Carmel to beckon their Gods to send a fire to their sacrifice and thus end the drought that Israel was experiencing. The Baal worshipers called on their god first---yelling at him, and cutting themselves, but to no avail. Meaningless word sounds. There was no response. No fire from heaven to burn their sacrifice. Then Elijah had the Israelites pour water on their sacrifice and he prayed to God. The wet wood beneath the sacrifice, as well as the ox, was burnt by the fire that God sent down when Elijah prayed. He didn’t babble, yell or cut himself. Elijah merely prayed to His God, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”  What a feat!  No feast left, all the sacrifice was consumed by the fire.

So how is your prayer life? When you pray---put meaning to your words. Honor God and keep your words short and sweet. What a great sacrifice to place on the table before our Lord.

Lord, I consider it an honor to know you and been known by You, and to pray.  Forgive me…and set my feet right on Your path again; thank you for your loving kindness and mercy.