Praying Succinctly by Mark Driscoll

Pray Like Jesus By Pastor Mark Driscoll

Day 6 of 21 Praying Succinctly  Every family seems to have That Guy. The designated religious guy. He's the family's designated pray-er.. He's the guy who prays at Christmas dinner, and immediately you're thinking, "Oh man. Here goes Uncle Hank." And he prays forever. It's long and drawn-out and wordy. He's got out his thesaurus. He's throwing out bizarre spiritual words like "Hallelujah" and "Shekinah glory" and "Laodicea," trying to sound as impressive as he can. He's gonna pray in King James English until the food is cold and everybody's an atheist. This guy's thinking that the longer his prayer is, the better it will be. Like Jesus is in heaven, saying, "Oh wow, that's a good one. That's a spiritual guy!"  Some people are throwing up words like they're flares, like they've got to vie for Jesus' attention. As if Jesus is up there distracted or asleep until: "What was that? Oh, I got a 'hallelujah!,' I better pay attention now." Sometimes we think we have to pray like that.  But in Matthew 6:6-7, Jesus says: "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 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." You don't get bonus points for long and fancy prayers. In fact, Jesus is saying that when you pray like that, for recognition and attention, you aren't worshiping the Father - you're worshiping yourself. In Mark 12:40 (ESV), Jesus condemns the legalists who pray showy prayers. He says they "receive the greater condemnation." You don't get a gold star for a performance prayer. You get judgment.  When one of sons was two years of age he prayed this prayer, "Jesus, you rock. Amen." That works! It's short, to the point, and very insightful. It would have made a good Christmas meal prayer and kept us from eating cold food.  It's okay to pray short prayers. You don't need to drag it out, you don't need to speak the King's English, you don't need to have the magic words. Speak from your heart. Be respectful, but you don't need to impress your audience. Just talk to Dad.  Make it a point throughout today to send off quick prayers out loud or silently for anything or anyone that comes to mind.  Matthew 6:6-7 NASB 6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward 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. Mark 12:40 NASB 40 who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation."