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In The Garden Daily Devotional
Series: A Walk Through Matthew - Prayer (Mathew 6)
"Prayer The Key"
Pastor Wayne Clabaugh
Scripture Text: "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." Matthew 6:6 (KJV)
Do we really truly know the power there is
behind prayer?
Sure we do, or at least we have a
fairly good idea. In fact, it was reported on ABC
the other night that patients who have a belief in a
higher power to assist them in their healing, seem
to mend twice as fast as those who don't profess any
faith whatsoever. They said nothing about prayer,
but one assumes that prayer is associated in some
way to the stability of that faith.
But that seems to be the problem... there's too much
assuming going on when it comes to prayer. We have
those that don't even bother to pray on both sides
of the spectrum. For instance: one side doesn't pray
because they don't believe that there is a God. They
believe that any healing your body receives comes
from within or by heavily relying on organic and synthetic
remedies. On the other side of the gamut there are
those who don't pray because they feel it would be a
lack of faith to do so. There is an initial prayer
of course - where they "name it
and claim it" so to speak - but that's it! Why?
If they were in continual prayer for their need - it
was considered by their group to show a lack of faith – and they would
immediately and sometimes callously be chastised for
it. Yet. look what Jesus says about that.
“And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a
friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say
unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend
of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have
nothing to set before him? And he from within shall
answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now
shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot
rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will
not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet
because of his importunity (the state or quality of
being importunate; persistence in solicitation) he
will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I
say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,
and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and
he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened." Luke 11:5-10 (KJV)
It is in this "gray area" of religion (usually fettered
with apologetic baggage), both of these sides are, in
and of themselves only part right. You see, it's
okay to believe: that's the very thing that miracles
are made of. But that’s only one-side of the
equation. Singer-Song Writer Jake Hess penned the
words to a song some years back entitled, "'Prayer'
Is The 'Key' To Heaven, But 'Faith' Unlocks The Door". You can't
have one without the other. For instance, you can have all the
oats you might ever need stored up in a Mill
somewhere, but until those oats are consumed by the
animal or end-user, they are of no real value.
But let's look at that word consume or
consumption. We see that it means, "the act of
processing". Now, digging into the Greek words that
support the word for "prayer" here - we find a
"moving
into", or "moving toward God" to
"reveal our heart". Again,
the act of processing! You might say then, that
"prayer is the consumption of our faith", or the
"act of processing our faith". It is not merely
a
release of faith as some will say, but is an act of
processing our thoughts and our feelings in words,
and even in groaning which cannot be uttered.
Now let’s try to apply what I just said to the
text for today. Prayer is not a mantra that we chant
at mealtime such as we often do when our children
are very small. Prayer at ANYTIME - is the act of
processing the inner most feelings of our heart and
soul toward God in a most intimate manner. That's
one of the reasons why PUBLIC PRAYER often loses
it's power or effectiveness and is referred to as a
PUBLICAN praying in a TEMPLE or Synagogue having no
substance. There is no movement towards a Holy God
in a Holy attitude. In fact, most "Public Prayers"
are read, and not "taken to the level of "
the "act of processing" what is being said.
it is mere words and very often done "for effect".
Yet, prayer that is prayed
in secret - connects with God through the channel of
the power of the Holy Spirit and God hears those
prayers of he heart - and rewards them openly. We’re
not speaking of walking inside of a "literal
closet", anymore than you would take your lunch into
a "literal closet". But it is the place inside your
heart that speaks to only you, and desires to speak
only to God. It is the place inside your heart that
has direct connection to your eyes and your mind
and your soul and spirit. It is the place that God
the Father comes and patiently waits, just
outside... drawing us in: bidding us to enter
therein with Him. It is the place where sweet
communion and full surrender captivate us by he
power of His love.
Makes you
wonder how you ever made it without it doesn't it?
Let’s pray.
Father… we begin a very important teaching on prayer
this week, and all of us know that Prayer has long
been touted as the connection of relationship
between man and God, and yet so few of us make use
of it. Teach me how to pray O Lord and how to tap
into the abundance of Heaven promised to all who
believe. In Jesus’ Name I Pray, Amen.
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