“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 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 6:6-8
In the middle of the sermon on the mount Jesus describes three spiritual disciplines – giving, praying and fasting. He instructs his followers in what not to do and also what to do. While our Lord clearly corrects religious people for their fake, surface devotion and lack of true love for God, He does not rule out any of these practices. In fact, all three use the same term, “when.” “When you give… when you pray… when you fast.” Jesus assumes his disciples will regularly practice all three (and other) disciplines.
As we seek to grow into the character of Jesus we will pause this Sunday (2/5/23) to reflect on the habits that enable us to grow toward maturity.
Do you consider giving a spiritual discipline? Jesus did. In fact, he started this section with it. More than that, Jesus talked frequently about money as a key indicator for the heart. If we want to grow to be more like our Savior we must learn to grow in the grace of giving.
We all know that prayer is an important discipline. The questions with prayer are whether we do it and how we go about it. A helpful approach to prayer is to learn to pray the Bible, especially using the Psalms. The more we pray the more we see God move in answer to our prayers but the mature prayer warrior knows it is not prayer that is powerful but God who is powerful. Prayer simply makes the connection between our weakness and His strength. Prayer first and foremost is worship – it is bowing before the God of heaven and acknowledging that He is sufficient for us.
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:9-13
Bible reading and prayer strengthen our relationship with God. We commune with Him as our Father. He speaks to us and we respond. Are you growing in prayer? Have you found the rhythms and practices of prayer that most nourish your relationship with God? Daily time; a reading plan; journaling; a quiet place; time outside; walking; visiting our prayer room; praying with others; Bible memorization; singing; listening to Christian music; writing poetry or worship songs; studying theology; praying for missionaries; writing down prayers and the answers when they come…
And what about fasting? You were hoping we could just skip over that one, weren’t you? There are many ways to fast – not just abstaining from food. And going without food is just dieting unless you use the time you would have been eating to pray – then it is fasting. When we let our hunger for food or TV or dessert move us to pray and hunger more for God, then we are fasting.
And spiritual disciplines always move us to action:
“Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily, your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”
Isaiah 58:5-10
In this new year, let’s make fresh commitments to Bible reading, prayer, fasting, giving, fellowship, discipleship, service, evangelism and more as the Lord leads!