Before he teaches us how to pray, Jesus sets a foundation for our prayer life with some really good news: “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Mt. 6:7-8)
This is good news for your prayer life. Why is it that we naturally think the more lofty, impressive, and long our prayers are, the more interested God will be in them? I mean, if your children decided they would turn simple requests into essay-long speeches, would you not be annoyed? Here is the good news Jesus is giving us: You don’t need to pull God out of heaven to care for you. You don’t need to activate him with impressive prayers as though he does not already care for you. You couldn’t do that if you tried. But good news, He already knows what you need. Actually, he knows far better than you what you need. And the assumption in this text is that God cares to provide for you what you need.
This is why the Lord’s Prayer begins with, “Our Father…”. If you have kids or are familiar with kids, we know that our dependent little kids know they don’t need to impress us with lofty requests. Quite the contrary! Kids just know if they cry out enough we will give in! A simple, “Daddy, can I have…” pretty much gets the job done in my house!
In Christ, God is your Father. He already knows what you need. And he cares for you. He does not just “give in” because you bothered him. Jesus here reveals that God is ready, willing, able, and eager to listen and hear our prayers through faith in Jesus Christ. Go ahead and let him know what you are thinking, feeling, and questioning; let him know the pain you feel, the suffering you are in, or the darkness you fear; let him know exactly what you need; ask him for it. And ask simply, because he is eager to provide and is happily ready to shoulder it all for you who are in Christ.
The above is part of a prayer guide, using the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6:7-13) to help you pray during this time of COVID-19. Find the prayer guide here.
