Matthew 6:7-8

“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. Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”   

Matthew 6:7-8

When we pray, sincerity must be in our hearts, not the canned, liturgical prayers of some religions. The fact that a request is repeated does not make it vain repetition. Jesus in the Garden and Paul with his thorn asked repeatedly. A request becomes “vain repetition” if it is only a babbling of words without a sincere heart’s desire to seek and do God’s will. Dr. Robert Cook said, “All of us have one routine prayer in our system; and once we get rid of it, then we can really start to pray!”

So, if God already knows what we need, “Why pray?” Because prayer is God’s appointed way to have these needs met.  Prayer prepares us for the proper use of the answer. (“God gets the glory” not “We get the credit.”) When we ask, we’ll take better care of the answer rather than God forcing it on us without us even asking.  It’s a loving exchange between Father and child.

Making my requests known, 

Pastor Gerard Deleeuw