Clarification on Prayer
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Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.Rend Your Heart
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” -
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Prayer
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
16 “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
“Personal prayer, it seems to me, is one of the simple necessities of life, as basic to the individual as sunshine, food and water, and at times, more so. By prayer I mean an effort to get in touch with the Almighty. We know that our prayers are imperfect. Of course they are. We are imperfect human beings. A thousand experiences have convinced me beyond room of doubt that prayer multiplies the strength of the individual and brings within the scope of his capabilities almost any conceivable objective” Eisenhower
Prayer is one of those subjects we all know about but if we are honest we are not sure we do it right.
There are 3 clarifications in our two readings today from Matthew 6 and Joel 2.
First Clarification: It’s not about words
Second Clarification: The quiet time and place is important
Third Clarification: God is Merciful
It’s not about words
It's not about words, many words or empty phrases. Big words can lead others to think I can't pray like that or I am going to say the wrong thing, or sound stupid or run out of things to say. We should never feel inadequate in prayer, nor should others feel inadequate when we pray.
There is a humorous story of a mother correcting a child who says that God’s name is Harold. The child insists, we say ‘Harold be thy name! The point is this: God doesn’t think any less of the child because she says it wrong - I’m sure God was thrilled she is praying. Our heavenly father treasures our stuttering, stumbling prayers. It is a simple illustration, which I hope, helps us to learn that prayer is not about using many words or the right words. Prayer is about getting to know God a bit better each time we talk to Him. It is about developing that bond between Abba father and child of God, developing that bond between Jesus and us the adopted sons and daughters of God. Each time we pray we draw near to God and we cannot help but be changed by being in his presence where we find that God hears us, loves us and knows us completely -v8 He knows our needs before we pray (we don’t need to say the right words) and the main thing is to talk with God not for a showy religious display to those around us. But to get to know God personally, to get to know God better.
The quiet time and place is important
2nd clarification is a reminder of the importance of the secret or quiet place (see Matthew 6v6) - When my daughter was very young they would toddle into my study and say ‘Dad?’ and I would look up and she didn’t have anything else to say …just ‘dad.’ She was at the limits of her vocabulary but she just wanted to talk. She was really saying … ‘I just want to be with you, I want to be near you, I want to hear you…I love you... Dad.’
For Jesus prayer seemed to be such a natural thing, he always seemed to begin every day, every challenge, every encounter with prayer. Mark 1:35 ‘Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.’ Lent is rooted in Jesus going into the desert for 40 days to pray and fast. That’s why in this 40 days of Lent 2024 it would be wonderful if you could commit yourself to daily prayer and reading and reflection. I hope you leave here determined to make time to meet with God.
God is Merciful
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and he relents from sending calamity.’ Joel 2:12-13
That is how God describes himself in Joel 2:12-13
We find this repeated seven times in the Old Testament: Ex 34:6 Neh 9:7, Ps 86:15, Psalm 103:8, Ps 145:8, Joel 2:3. Jonah 4:2
God does not require us to rip our ‘garments’ in a showy display of repentance. “Rend your heart” is to acknowledge your brokenness and need for God’s forgiveness and restoration. As we rend our hearts, we discover that “the LORD is close to the brokenhearted” Psalm 34:18.
When we have strayed from God, Psalm 51:17 reassures us “God will not reject a broken and repentant heart.”
In that quiet, secret place we find he is merciful, and our close relationship is restored as we rend our hearts before Him (Psalm 147:3, Isaiah 61:1).
