“… Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come…” and quite certainly most people, Christian or not, would be capable of finishing the rest of this prayer. After all, it’s the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ said we should always pray, isn’t it? Well, whether he said that or not, this is certainly the way it is treated by countless Christians. This reveals a most worrisome trait in the lives of us Christians – one that we may not always want to confront.
Examining the context in which this most popular of all prayers is set reveals some very interesting truths. As one might expect, the Lord was indeed teaching the people on the topic of prayer. However, one critical point in his teaching was that people were not to take part in vain, repetitious prayers. Such people he said thought that they would be heard just because they talked so much. After teaching this truth he proceeded to give them an example, “After this manner therefore pray ye…” and then comes the all popular prayer.
A brief glance at the Scriptures reveals that what the Lord was doing was giving them an example. The Word of God does not say, “Pray THIS prayer: Our Father who art in heaven…” When he prayed this prayer he was giving them an example showing that our prayers are to be filled with reverence for God and that we are to seek His will when we pray. However, the very prayer that the Lord used to teach his disciples to not get caught up in vain repetitions is repeated day after day in services around the world! Seems his advice went unheard.
This pattern, however, is not an original one. Even in the days of the Lord, man had developed his own peculiar forms of worship,
Mark 7:6, 7
“And he said unto them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.”
Their worship was an outward show of actions without the corresponding heart of love for God that true worship requires. Sounds almost like congregations of people week after week mouthing the words to a prayer that may have lost all meaning and heart. Perhaps the prayer itself is a symptom of a deeper problem. Maybe the prayer is nothing more than the accompanying mantra to a weekly ritual of institutionalized worship. Nothing wrong with congregating. Nothing wrong with praying together. But here we may just have that worrisome trait: Are some of us just going through the motions?
The Word of God declares that Christianity is to be a vital and living relationship between God and man. A relationship of two-way communication in which God answers prayers on a daily basis. A prayer to God is not just a group of words strung together and delivered in some form of ritualistic audible sacrifice. It is not lip service to some uncaring, inattentive and distant entity. In contrast, it is the request to a loving Father who cares deeply for His children. It is open communication with the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Why would we ever turn it into a potentially mindless repetition of empty words?
God doesn’t want sacrifices from His people. He does not seek after alms of convenience and uncaring ritual as though that could ever mean anything to the one who created all things. God desires loving fellowship out of a genuine and honest heart. If you’re just going through the motions – it’s time to stop.