Our Pattern for Prayer

Transcript

GR 665
4/8/1984
Our Pattern for Prayer
Matthew 6:7-10
Gil Rugh

Prayer is indeed one of the greatest privileges of believers in Jesus Christ. That is the focal point of Jesus' discussion in this study of the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6, Jesus is dealing with matters associated with the worship of God, specifically with areas that are often abused in worship. The burden of the first eighteen verses of Matthew 6 is to warn against religious activity done for the purpose of pleasing men rather than for the purpose of pleasing God. Jesus has given strong warnings about the abuse of these practices. He introduced the section in verse 1 by saying, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." In other words, if you practice your righteousness before men so they will honor you for it, that is your reward. If you do it for God, men may not honor you, but God will reward you in His own way and in His own time. The important factor is the motive for the actions.
In the last study, consideration was given to abuses in three areas as described by Jesus: giving alms (charitable acts), praying and fasting. In each of these areas Jesus compared what should be done with what should not be done. The hypocrites of His day were pretending to be worshipers of God when they were really only trying to please men. Jesus warned His followers not to be like the hypocrites. The hypocrites He was talking about were religious people, and He was saying that many people are hypocritical in their religious practices. They are shown to be hypocrites because they do their deed in order to be seen by others and to receive praise from them not to bring honor to God.

As Jesus gave instruction in each of these areas, the point was that the concern in worship should be to focus attention upon God and to be pleasing to Him. Whether or not others observe you is a secondary consideration. The point was also made that in each of these areas, nothing forbids you from doing anything publicly. Prayer is a good example of this. But this passage warns against the danger of praying in public in order to please men by our prayers. Jesus is saying that you must be careful about your motives when you do things publicly.
In the last study, Jesus warned about improper motives in prayer. In the section covered by this study, Jesus elaborates on prayer more than He does on any of the other areas of the discussion.
In this study, consideration will be given to how Jesus develops the content of prayer. The practice of prayer is so abused that Jesus is not only going to warn about improper motives in praying but about the content of prayers as well.
As was His approach in the previous study, Jesus again approaches the subject by bringing up the negative aspects of His instruction, then the positive. Today the power of positive thinking is prevalent, and people are instructed to be positive about everything, but Jesus starts out with the negative. In the previous study Jesus said not to pray like the hypocrites. In this study, the emphasis is on not praying like the Gentiles. "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" (v.7). The word Gentiles is a synonym for unbelievers. From the Jewish perspective, the Gentiles were outside the covenant relationship with God.
When Jesus warned against praying like the Gentiles do, He was referring to their use of meaningless repetition. They prayed the same prayers over and over again, thinking that by repetition of their prayers they were accomplishing something before God. But to Him, this is an abominable idea!
People can fall into the same pattern with the Lord's Prayer. People can recite the Lord's Prayer faithfully, but it may be just meaningless, empty repetition. There are many people who go through their rosary beads faithfully every day. It seems as if they think that in doing so, they are accomplishing something before God. But that is meaningless repetition. The Eastern religions have prayer wheels where, supposedly, if you can keep the wheel turning and the prayers going around, you are accomplishing something before God. All of these activities are empty repetition and foolishness. They are meaningless and accomplish nothing. People's practices regarding prayer is a very personal topic. Many people get very upset if you discuss their religious practices. They say religion is a personal matter between themselves and God, but in this passage Jesus confronts the religious practices of others.
Verse 7 explains why they go through all of these activities, they suppose that they will be heard for their many words." There is a good example of worthless praying in 1 Kings 18. In this passage there is a description of the confrontation between Elijah, prophet of God, and the prophets of Baal, the false god being worshiped by much of Israel at that time. Elijah was challenging the prophets of Baal to a contest in order to find out who was really God. The prophets of Baal were to build an altar as was Elijah, the prophet of God. They were to offer sacrifices on each altar, but were not to light the fire. Then they were to each pray to their god to bring down fire and consume the sacrifice. The one who answered with fire would demonstrate himself to be God.
The challenge of Elijah is recorded in 1 Kings 18:21: "Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people did not answer him a word." Elijah was facing the 450 prophets of Baal alone. After Elijah instructed the prophets of Baal, they responded as recorded in verse 26: "Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, 'O Baal, answer us.' But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made."
The prophets of Baal were trying to get the attention of their god.
Then Elijah began mocking Baal's prophets. "It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened'" (v.27). If you read this passage in another version such as the Living Bible, you will notice that "he is occupied" means that perhaps their god has gone to the toilet! In other words, their god was doing something else, so they had better do something to get his attention. Elijah told them that Baal obviously was not hearing them, so they had better holler a little louder. The dumb thing is, they did! "So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them" (v.28). These people were acting like kids! Sometimes if you ignore your kids, they will scream, then throw themselves down on the floor and kick (and I hope you intervene at that point!).
These prophets were slicing themselves up in an effort to get the attention of their god. But he was not paying them any attention. "It came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention" (v.29). These people were trying to get the attention of their god, Baal, but there was no one to pay any attention to them! Their multiplied words did nothing.
That is the point of Matthew 6:7. Many people think that because they recite prayers over and over, God is going to hear them. They feel that having said it once is something, but saying it a hundred times indicates you must really mean it, therefore, God will listen. That is not the point in praying. Jesus warned against such practices. That is why I have an aversion to reading written prayers.
Jesus continues in Matthew 6:8: "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him." You do not have to inform God of your needs. He already knows what they are before you ask Him. You do not have to get His attention and tell Him what is going on here. Prayer is not bringing God up to date or filling Him in on things He may have missed. He knows everything, including what you are going to ask before you ask it. Then why
should you pray? Because He tells you to. It is just that simple. But that does not seem to be a good reason, you say. But we are talking about God, are we not? If He says do it, that ought to be a good enough reason to do it!
We are the ones who benefit from prayer, not God. Our relationship with Him in prayer is similar to that with our children. The analogy Christ is going to draw is of the father-child relationship. As parents, we have a better knowledge of our children's needs than they do. We usually know what they are going to ask before they ask because we know their needs.
Sometimes our kids tell us they need a new pair of tennis shoes, but we already knew that. Of course, there are times when they ask for new ones when they do not need them simply because they want to keep up with the newest fad. But as a parent, you generally know when their clothes need to be replaced or when other needs arise. Yet, your children ask you. That is good for them because it creates a consciousness in them of their need.
Prayer is very similar to this. First, it makes us aware of God's greatness. Prayer is a means for us to exalt God, to acknowledge our dependence upon Him. When we come to Him with our needs, we are acknowledging that He is the One who is sufficient to meet those needs. Secondly, prayer is an acknowledgment of our dependence and reliance upon Him to meet the need. It is good for us to learn that. We need to be reminded from time to time that He is God and God is to be exalted and honored and that we are dependent upon Him for our needs. If God simply provided everything and we never had to ask Him, we would soon forget who was the source of every good and perfect gift. So prayer is primarily for our benefit, not for God's.
Sometimes we forget that we are not coming to Him to tell Him something. That is especially true under the pressure of the moment. We sometimes ask God, Don't You know what is happening? God knows everything. He realizes how much pressure we are under. He is our Father and He knows everything about us. So prayer is a good way for us to come to Him and exalt Him as God and acknowledge our dependence upon Him. It is also good for us to recognize our inability to meet our own needs in and of ourselves. We need to be reminded that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him, but we still need to come and ask Him.
The prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9-13 is commonly known as the Lord's Prayer. More accurately, it is a pattern of prayer given to the disciples. It is not the disciples' prayer from the standpoint that there is no indication they are to repeat this prayer. There is no record anywhere in Scripture that any of the disciples or followers of Christ ever prayed this prayer. In none of Paul's writings or the other epistles do we find the disciples joining together and praying what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer. Rather, this prayer is a pattern to be followed in our praying.
We often use Scripture in our prayers. I have no problem with someone praying the Lord's Prayer, reciting it or quoting it, anymore than any other Scripture. But I find no reason to believe that we should recite this prayer by rote. It is a pattern for praying and contains elements which ought to be in our prayers.

One thing stands out about this prayer -- it is short and to the point. There are longer prayers recorded in the Bible. There is nothing wrong with a long prayer unless you think that by the length of your prayer you are making a point with God. Sometimes our prayers flow out of the burden we have. We feel the need to talk with God over an extended period of time. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that any more than there is anything wrong with asking God for something more than once. Jesus prayed the same thing three times in Matthew 26. That is not vain repetition. Paul says he prayed three times to the Lord about a burden he had. The caution against vain repetition is not implying that you are to never ask for something more than once or that you should not be persistent in prayer. But you should not think that just because you make your prayers lengthy or repetitive, then you have more chance of God taking your prayers seriously.
In order to understand this prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, we must understand the context of the passage. Jesus has been announcing, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). He is calling the people to repentance as He prepares to establish the kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament. The sermon is given in anticipation of the coming of the kingdom. This prayer is in the context of those who are believers in Christ and who are anticipating the coming of the kingdom.
There are two reasons why we do not practice reciting the Lord's Prayer in our church services. First, we were never told to recite the Lord's Prayer. It was given as a pattern for praying. Secondly, it was given to Jews in anticipation of the coming kingdom and is Jewish in character, kingdom oriented. Therefore, it is out of time for us to be using this as a prayer today. We will see that more clearly as we move through the details of the prayer.
There are six requests in the prayer. Three of them are directed toward God and the exaltation of His character, and three are directed toward us and our needs. The prayer starts out by focusing on God's character, then moves to draw attention to our needs. This study will cover the first three requests which focus attention upon God and His character and person.
The prayer is addressed to "Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). That crucial statement indicates that this prayer is in a family context. Prayer is limited to those who have God as their Father. Many of the misconceptions and misunderstandings about worship, religion and prayer today are because people do not understand that basic concept. As a father, my children ask me for many things. If you are a parent, you also experience the privilege of being able to give your children the things they ask you for. But if an unknown kid from the neighborhood walks up and says, "Hey, I'm going to the store. How about giving me ten dollars?" my response is different.
I think about the audacity of that kid to ask me for money. Doesn't he have any upbringing? Don't his parents teach him anything? Doesn't he know that you do not just go up and ask people for things? He should ask his own parents.
Many people are continually making that mistake in prayer. God is not their Father, but they think they can just barge in, tell Him what they want and leave. They think He should be there to respond to them at the snap of a finger. They think God is there for their convenience. If they have a problem, they want to blame it on Him. He had better work it out! If they have a need, God ought to be there to respond to it. They have no concept of the fact that God is not their Father.
There are many people in your neighborhood who have various problems and needs. You do not necessarily respond to all those needs. But when your children have problems and needs, you respond to them because they are your responsibility. You have an obligation because of your family relationship. So it is in prayer. Prayer is limited to those who enjoy a family relationship with God. This means that of all the people who pray, the only ones whose prayers are accepted by God -- heard with the intention of answering them -- are those who are members of His family. Of course, God hears and sees everything, so He hears the sounds of unbelievers' prayers. He heard the prophets of Baal; He saw what they were doing. But the point is that He does not hear with the intention of responding to unbelievers' prayers.
It is important to see how Scripture limits the privilege of prayer to the members of God's family. It is amazing how so many people can go through the routines of prayer and never stop to think whether they are being heard or not. They can be very sincere in their prayers. The prophets of Baal were so sincere and earnest that they were willing to mutilate their bodies in order to get Baal's attention. But all of the sincerity and mutilation did not change the fact that there was no Baal -- there was no god to hear them. Jesus limits the privilege of prayer to those of His family.
John wrote in John 1:12: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." The right to be the children of God is limited to those who believe in Jesus Christ. His name refers to who He is. Those who believe in Jesus Christ are the ones who have the right to be the children of God.
That narrows it down very clearly. The children of God are those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died on a cross to pay the penalty for their sins. What about those who do not believe in Him in that way? What about Buddhists, Hindus and everybody else who rejects Christ? This verse says that the right to be the children of God belongs to those who believe in Jesus Christ.
As is so often the case, the basic, simple facts escape us and lead to perversion in practice. There are many people today who want to stress the fatherhood of God by saying we are all the children of God. They take a part of Galatians 3:26 as a basis for their approach: "For you are all sons of God." It is true that God created everyone, but the family relationship of Father and child is limited to those who have come to the redemption that God has provided in Jesus Christ. It is necessary to read the whole verse in order to get the truth: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (v.26). Faith in Jesus Christ is the means of becoming a son of God.
Paul continues speaking about family relationships in Galatians 4:6: "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" Because we as believers in Jesus Christ are sons born into God's family through faith in Christ, God's
Spirit has taken up residence in our lives, and the Spirit now moves us to address God as our Father. We enjoy that family relationship as we partake of the Spirit of God Himself through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit of God who moves us in prayer. Romans 8:26 speaks of the Spirit of God who "intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” As the Spirit moves us to pray in accordance with the will of God, He goes even beyond what we can express to carry our needs into the presence of God. The Spirit of God is the One who knows the will of God intimately as stated in 1 Corinthians 2:11: "Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God."
After seeing that only those who have trusted Christ as their Savior can truly call themselves sons of God, it is important to remember what God says about those who have not trusted Him. Note what Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day in John 8:44: "You are of your father the devil." Why would one think that the children of the Devil can come to God and ask Him to meet their needs? Humanity is divided basically into two camps -- those who are the children of God and those who are the children of the Devil. The children of God have the right to come to God and ask Him for what they want. The children of the Devil have no such right to come to God in this way. They are not members of His family; they are strangers. They may go through the motions of prayer, but God is not listening. He will not respond or take heed to their prayers.
Some people do not like that. They think that such an approach is very narrow, but it does not really matter whether they like it or not. God has spoken about the issue. If they do not like it, that indicates they do not like God to be God. People are often willing to say He is God, but they want to tell Him what to do and how things are going to be. They want to tell Him what He ought to do and when He ought to do it. God would not be God in such a world. Those giving Him the instructions would be God. But God is not willing to submit to mankind. He simply tells each one of us that we can be members of His family by meeting the conditions. The conditions are to believe that His Son, Jesus Christ, loves you and died for you and was raised because He paid the penalty for your sins. If you will believe that, you will be born into God's family and will partake of His Spirit. Then you can ask of Him the desires of your heart and He will be willing to respond and give them to you. But this is conditional.
In addition to the fact that the phrase "Our Father" limits the privilege of prayer to those who are the children of God through faith in Christ, the phrase also denotes the warmth and closeness that His children have with God as their Father. This deals with an error the Jews had allowed to develop. They were not even willing to use the name of God any longer because they saw such distance between themselves and God. They saw God as being somewhere else, with a great chasm between them and God, but the warmth of the family relationship is evident in the introduction to this prayer, and this brings the confidence His children need to come boldly into His presence as the Book of Hebrews encourages believers to do.
The opening phrase of this prayer goes on to say, "Our Father who art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). The emphasis of this statement is that He is the exalted and sovereign God, the One who rules and is Lord. This emphasis corrects the error so generally prevalent in Christianity today, that of over-familiarity and triteness in addressing God. Yes, God is our Father, but He is the One who is in heaven. He is the exalted Lord and sovereign God. There is no room for the trite familiarity that characterizes so much of Christianity today. Too many people address God in a flippant, overly-familiar way. It is important to recognize His holiness and His awesomeness. When Isaiah was confronted with the Lord in Isaiah 6, he recognized God as lofty and exalted and recognized that he was a man of unclean lips, a man full of iniquity. He was overwhelmed by the holiness of God.
It is important to keep balance in this area. God is not at a distance the holy, righteous, awesome God. He is the holy, righteous, awesome God who is my Father. As a child of God, I can enjoy the intimacy of a family relationship with Him, but I am never to lose the respect and awe of Him in light of the fact that He is the sovereign God, the Creator of everything.
Three Petitions Focusing on the Character of God. In this study, the first three petitions of the prayer will be considered. In looking at each of the six petitions, it becomes apparent that all of them were given in the context of the kingdom God has promised to Israel. This is another reason why I believe that this is not a prayer for Christians to pray today.
The first petition, "Hallowed be Thy name” (v.9), is a request that God would set Himself apart, display His holiness and bring to Himself the honor that is His. The opposite would be to profane God's name, to bring disrespect or dishonor to His name. The word translated hallowed is familiar today because it is the same basic word which is translated saint, holy, or sanctified.
It means to treat as holy, to honor, to reverence, to hold in respect.
Israel Profaned God's Name. The Old Testament makes it clear that Israel profaned God's name by their rebellion against His commands and also that judgment was brought upon Israel in that they were spread among the nations. The other nations of the world viewed Israel as a people whose God could not care for them, thus their actions brought disrespect upon the name of God. Yet God promised them He would exalt His name when He established Israel in the kingdom. So for a Jew to pray that God would exalt His person and hallow His name became synonymous with praying for the coming kingdom.
In the Old Testament this issue is addressed in Ezekiel 36. The Lord said to Ezekiel, "Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands.
According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land'" (vs. 19,20). The nations viewed this as weakness on God's part. The Jews had profaned His name. They had cast disrespect on the name of God by their sinful conduct which brought God's judgment upon them.
Israel Will Glorify God's Name. Then God spoke of the time when He will regather the nation Israel into the land of Palestine, "But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God'"" (vs. 21-28). Israel will again be established as a nation and the Messiah will rule over them. At that time all the nations of the earth will declare the glory of the God of Israel who has kept them just as He promised.
When Jesus exhorts the Jews to pray, "Hallowed be Thy name" (Matt. 6:9), the Jews would automatically think of a passage like this in Ezekiel. At that time, Israel, as a captive nation of the Romans, was profaning the name of the Lord, but they were to be praying for the establishment of a kingdom in which God's name would be revered and honored among all the peoples of the earth. There are a number of passages in the Old Testament which have a similar message. Among them is Isaiah 29:22,23, "Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, 'Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale; But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst [when Jacob sees all his descendants, the nation Israel , gathered together], They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.'" In this passage, the point is that God's name will be truly sanctified among the nations as Israel is regathered into the land and the Messiah, Jesus Christ, rules and reigns. Then "the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea" (Isa. 11:9). Then the name of God will be truly exalted and hallowed.
The second petition, "Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10), provides an even more clear understanding of what is in view. The only kingdom that can be in view is the kingdom that has been in view all the way through Matthew up to this point -- the kingdom the Jews were anticipating. This is referring to the same kingdom as the Old Testament passages just quoted, the one promised to the Jews and prophesied by the prophets. The reference is to Israel's future earthly kingdom.
In Acts 1, Jesus has ended His earthly ministry and is about to ascend to the Father. Jesus is in the presence of His disciples before His ascension in Acts 1:6, "So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, 'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?'" There is no concept in this passage of a spiritual kingdom replacing the Old Testament promises of an earthly kingdom. When the disciples asked Jesus about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, Jesus did not say, "No, you misunderstood. There is no kingdom coming to Israel." He told them that it was not for them to know when the kingdom will be established. So when Jesus told the disciples to pray for the kingdom to come, He was talking about the kingdom promised to Israel over which the Messiah will reign. The disciples were to be praying that this kingdom would be established because it is in this kingdom that God's name will be honored and hallowed.
The next petition in Matthew 6:10, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” is in the same context. God's will being done on earth as it is in heaven has not been accomplished in the past. It is not being accomplished now. It will be accomplished in the Millennium, the time when His kingdom will be established on earth.
Not Done Presently. God does rule generally in the affairs of man. In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. He was proud because he thought it was by the might of his own power that he had built such an empire. God revealed His plan to drive Nebuchadnezzar insane for seven years so he would realize that God is sovereign among the kingdoms of the earth. God gave this word to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:32, "and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes."
The results of this prophecy are recorded in verses 34 and 35, "But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" God's will is done on the earth but not in the same way as it is done in heaven.
Will Be Done Ultimately. The prayer of Matthew 6:10 is, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." God's will is perfectly carried out in heaven. There is no sin, rebellion or resistance. In the kingdom which Jesus Christ will establish on the earth, God will be ruling and His will will be accomplished on earth just as it is in heaven. There will be no rebellion or open sin tolerated. This will be a reign of righteousness and justice.
The Old Testament speaks repeatedly about David's throne, a Jewish kingdom, being established over which the Messiah will rule and reign. One such passage is Isaiah 9:6,7: "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." The kingdom over which Jesus Christ will rule and reign on the earth, the throne of David, will be characterized by righteousness and justice. Then the will of God will be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven.
The Jews of Jesus' day were being exhorted to pray for the coming kingdom in which God's name will be hallowed and in which His will will be perfectly accomplished. They were to be burdened in prayer that the kingdom will come and that God will be exalted and honored. Those desires are to be foundational to all prayers. In the next study, the focus will be on the requests directed to the meeting of personal needs, but even those requests are supposed to be based on a desire for God to be exalted and honored. That should be the primary desire in all prayers. He is the One to be praised and honored. The most important thing is not that a person gets what he wants, but that God be honored and exalted. God is to receive the glory.
The Apostle James was speaking to the same issue when he wrote, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3). The one who asks in this way is asking selfishly. He has no desire in making his request for God to be honored and exalted. The children of God should pray in the context of the will of God. That means that our desires must be for God to be exalted and for His will to be accomplished.
It is amazing and awesome when you think about it that we as the children of God, created human beings living on this planet, are privileged to have a personal relationship with God. We are privileged to have as our Father the One who created everything. The opportunity is ours to come into His presence with confidence and lay out to Him the burdens and desires of our hearts and know that He is listening. That He promises to answer and to give us the desires of our hearts is truly mind-boggling. But it is appalling that those who are not God's children through faith in His Son think that in their pride and arrogance they can barge in and tell God what to do. They think that if they have a need, God should meet it. But why should He meet the needs of one who is not His child? He said that if you are not His child, you cannot even come and talk to Him because He will not listen.
The amazing thing is that God has made it possible for us to be His children by having His Son die for us. That is the beginning point of our relationship with Him. Those of us who have believed in Him ought to be basking in the privilege of prayer. We do not have to beat on the door, beg, or make long petitions; we do not have to repeat ourselves over and over hoping to get His attention or hoping He will see how serious our plight is. We have full confidence that He is our Father. We can present our situation to Him and describe our very needy condition in His very presence. We can acknowledge Him to be a God who can meet every need and One we can trust to meet those needs. What a privilege! We often look for people to help us, individuals we can dump our problems on, but we are privileged to have a God who is there, a Father who is concerned about us and has the ability to meet every need in every situation.