The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 6:5-8, “And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.
6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.”

When I was young and engaged in evangelistic meetings, one of the things we often did in the afternoons was to go out witnessing to the lost. I clearly remember when I once insisted that we pray instead of going out in our usual way to witness. My colleagues protested. It was not that I did not want to witness, I just sensed that we should spend more time in prayer.

I am fearful that the lack of serious prayer is a major fault in our Christian lives. Jesus’ instruction regarding prayer was both negative and positive. We are not to pray in the effort to impress those who might hear us. We must remember that we are talking to God, not to men. On the other hand, we are to shut ourselves away from others, so that the LORD alone hears our petitions.
Even then, we’re to be guarded against using “meaningless repetitions.” We will be praying as He directed, when no one can hear us except the LORD.

The passage above tells us the “Father knows what (we) need, before (we) ask Him.” Why then should we pray? Parents understand this. Their child comes to them with a petition, and they know what the petition is long before the child expresses it. “Well,” you ask, “if the LORD knows it all before we ask, why is it necessary for us to ask at all?” It is necessary because in asking, we honor and revere His position as Almighty God. Earnest, closeted prayer eliminates our taking Him for granted. He wants to grant our petitions! Still, we must always ask for His glory, not for our own.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom