“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. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions...” -From Matthew 6:6&7.
Receiving salvation in Jesus Christ is something each person will have to choose individually for themselves, and so it follows that the Lord is seeking a personal relationship with each one of us. Salvation comes from God alone via the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-8), and the responsibility of choice is ours alone, as says the scripture;
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” -John 12:48.
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” -Romans 14:12.
Yet today establishing a Christian life is all about taking shortcuts along the way. We are too busy for any kind of real relationship with God, so we opt for what is quick, and what others deem acceptable. Prayer & Bible study are the 2 necessary elements that take the biggest cuts of time, but PRAYER is the focus of this article.
What I am seeing a lot of today on-line are prayers that have been manufactured for others to repeat; prayers to be said for certain things, or at certain times of day, all of which relieve the individual of their own responsibility in prayer. How do we seek a relationship with God using someone else's words? Finding examples of prayer are reasonable, but honestly, God wants your own words.
Jesus would be our leader into prayer (Matthew 6:5-13), and He tells us NOT to use vain repetitions. Also, in what is known as “The Lord's Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus begins His instruction by saying, “After this manner therefore pray ye”, saying that we should not be like those who use repetitive prayer. Note that Jesus was saying to pray after the manner, or example of the prayer He gave, and not simply to repeat it.
So there are 3 areas of problems I'd like to address, and they both revolve around praying for yourself, and not taking from the relationship someone else has with God. First, Jesus told us not to use vain repetitions, so we are DISOBEYING GOD by just repeating the prayers of others. Second, The Bible emphasizes truth when we are calling upon God (Psalm 145:18, John 4:3,4). I think that to use someone elses's prayer we cannot be truthful. We won't be praying specifically for our own circumstances, but from another person's perspective. This will offend God, as we then are turning prayer into just a religious work to impress Him. A third problem is similar to this, which is to ask for and rely on the prayers of others for us, but doing little or nothing for ourselves. The Bible directs Christians to ask God directly, for one thing. And for another thing, if we regard another person's prayers above our own it shows a respect of persons, which is sin. You are also using another person as a mediator between you & God, when Jesus is the ONLY mediator.
“But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” -James 2:9.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” -1 Timothy 2:5.
Please note that in Matthew 6:6 our Lord is urging us to pray to God alone, privately, and not to first seek the help of others! When we do this it is TRUE FAITH in the unseen God, and when He answers you it will glorify Him, and increase your own faith (Psalm 50:15).
Check out these following verses of encouragement to take our concerns straight to God;
“At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” -John 16:26,27.
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” -Hebrews 4:14-16.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” -1 Peter 5:6,7.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6,7.
Where do you find the Bible telling you to seek out others for their prayers, either to do, or for you to repeat? GOD WANTS YOU!!! People will always let us down, because they are limited by their abilities, knowledge, and frailties, even if their intentions and efforts are commendable. The Bible tells us not to depend on the flesh, and that EVERY good gift and perfect gift comes from God the Father.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” -James 1:17.
“Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.” -Psalm 108:12.
“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” -Psalm 127:1.
Remember that you are never out of God's sight (Psalm 139:7-12), and He knows everything about you. He proved His love for us (Romans 5:8) by sending His Son to die for our sins; long before we ever knew Him, or our separation from Him because of sin. Let us run TO God with our every concern, and accept His extended hand of invitation for the relationship He desires with us.
Ultimately, others cannot cry out to God for us nearly as well as we could for ourselves. It isn't that the prayers of others are wrong, but we do not need them, and to wait for them takes away the time we can gain by going to God directly. Our prayers to the Lord are not in vain, but we dare not wait for the help of any other. Seek in person that great and wonderful God who gave His Son, that we might not be eternally lost. He has promised to answer you (Mathew 7:7,8), please seek Him today!
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” -1 John 4:10.
“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” -Romans 8:32.
You may also be interested in this YouTube video I did on this subject https://youtu.be/A648x1Ne4Yw.
