The story is told of two brothers who were sent by their mother to purchase a few items from a nearby shop. In their playfulness, they lost the money on the way. Immediately the older brother remembered how their mother used to speak about God being a prayer answering God. So, he suggested they pray to him; perhaps he may help them find the money. With no further delay, he began thus, “God, you know we would be in serious trouble if we go home without the things mom sent us out to get or the money. So, Lord, please show us where the money is; we promise to give you half of it if you help us.“ Immediately the younger brother tapped him on the shoulder, “But you know that we need all the money for the things we are going to buy“, to which the older brother replied, “Shh… it’s a trick!“.

The older brother thought to use his prayer to get what he wanted from God but had no intention of honouring the promise he made. To this little boy, prayer was only a means to twist God’s hand. Sadly, this boy is not alone. If you listen to most of the prayers we pray these days, you’ll realise that we are in it just to “trick“ God. In many ways, we sound very much like that little boy.

Regrettably, this attitude has been with us for a very long time. Let’s listen in to the prayer of Jacob, the patriarch, as recorded in Genesis 28:20-22, right after he had the vision of a ladder leading up to heaven and anointed the stone upon which he had slept as the house of God and christened the place the gateway to heaven:

“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

The nub of the patriarch’s prayer can be restated like this: “Look, Lord, you may have shown me the gates of heaven and angels ascending and descending, and you’ve just promised to give me the land where I slept and make my descendants many. But if you want me to make you my God, here’s a list of things you must comply with in addition:

Talk about twisting the arm of God!

Like any spiritual discipline, prayer can quickly become man-centred instead of God-centred. In our previous article, we saw that the disciplines are a means to enjoy God and, consequently, be more like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18; Psalms 34:5). C. S. Lewis is on record to have said. 

“The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.‘ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.“

Rightly so. God is the object of the disciplines; we are not. In them, we focus our gaze on Him, not on us. A direct consequence of constantly being in His presence is that, like Moses, we begin to radiate off Him. But it would be idolatry to go to Him only to get our clothes bedazzled so we can show off how iridescent we are.

This is what preoccupied the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. “They practised their righteousness (the spiritual disciplines) before other people in order to be seen by them“ (Matthew 6:1). In repudiating their hypocrisy, Jesus picked on three notable disciplines: namely, giving, fasting and prayer.

These hypocrites sounded a trumpet when they gave alms to the poor, “to be seen of men… that they may have glory of men.“ Jesus says such almsgiving is of no consequence in heaven. Then in Ch. 6 v. 16, he reproves them for the way they disfigure their faces when they fast to appear to men to be highly spiritual.

When it comes to prayer, Jesus observed:

“…for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.“ (v.5).

Thus, the Pharisees had turned the spiritual disciplines into a glory-seeking, man-centred, self-righteous venture. And they did not stop at publicly showing off their religiosity; in their prayers, they reminded God how holy they were, how much they gave, fasted etc. And in this self-aggrandised state of mind, they demeaned everyone else (Luke 18:10-14). This was legalism at its peak. A legalistic mindset says, “I deserve to be rewarded because I have been good“. This attitude is diametrically opposed to grace, which says, “I owe it all to you, and I can’t earn it by my good works nor repay it“.

And so, Jesus sets the record straight:

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-10; 13b, KJV

SONSHIP AT THE HEART OF PRAYER THAT PLEASES JESUS

Theologians agree that Jesus here gives us a model to pattern our prayers (we will explore this in greater detail in a subsequent article). If this is true, then it is instructive to pay attention to Jesus’ method so we don’t pray amiss. Rather than being all about us, Jesus shows us that prayer starts and ends with God. Observe how the honour of God’s name, His Kingdom and His will come first on Jesus’ list.

Observe the first two words. “Our Father“. As we noted in the previous article, the first words of the new-born believer are “Abba! Father!“ Our adoption as sons must continue to shape our minds and hearts as we approach God in prayer – never doubting for a moment that He loves us and is ever attentive to our prayers.

I believe this gets right at the heart of the legalistic attitude of the hypocrites whose prayer style he would have us avoid. Legalism seeks a reward for being ‘good‘ and tries to earn God’s approval and favour through works. Thus, it displays a misunderstanding of grace and sonship. As sons of God, we have nothing to prove. Our Father loves us with the same love he loves Jesus (John 14:23; 15:9; 16:27; 17:23). He loved us even when we were His enemies (Romans 5:8); there’s nothing we can do to make Him love us any more or any less than he already lavishly does.

That is where all the spiritual disciplines begin.Jesus begins with it. He reminds us; when you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites – you are in the presence of your Father who loves you and whom you love. He loves to commune with you. What a privilege! Prayer is all about coming into the presence of a loving Father whose ears, as the Jewish Rabbis used to say, “are never satisfied with hearing“.

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