Today;s paragraph heading is: (Prayer).
Christ continues to give us examples of things that we should not do that will cause us to loose our reward with God. We started this chapter with Christ telling us that our intentions should be pure. Just as in the previous paragraph he told us to do our good in secret, he tells us in this paragraph to pray in secret also. He tells us to not be like hypocrites, where we pray standing in the synagogue and on street corners to be seen by men. Why do we need the approval and acceptance of men to pray? Why is it necessary to be recognized by others that we do good? Is it because the truth of our beliefs is not real? Is it because we need the support of others to believe in ourselves?
Faith requires that we believe in something that is not evident. It requires that we know and are able to act upon what we say that we believe. Trust is faith in action, and the strength of our actions demonstrates the strength of our trust and the depth of our faith. If our faith is week then our actions will be shallow. If our trust is unfounded then our actions will be narrow and limited and will require support from others. Insane people talk to themselves, see things that others do not see, and believe things that are not real. Faith is part insanity because it requires us to believe something that has very little support. Yet God is real. God does provide. And God reveals himself to those who seek him. So if we seek the knowledge of God earnestly, he will daily give us the truth that we need to know him and the support that we need to believe in him. Then our beliefs will be true and our actions will be real.
So we pray in our hearts because we know that God is real. We pray in private because we know that our prayers will be answered and that God hears us. We pray because we give thanks to God daily, sometimes hourly, for the things that he does for us, for the love that he shows us. We sing in private because we are filled with the love of his presence within us, and around us, and upon us. This is the God that Christ wants us to know when he instructs us to do things in secret. He knows that our God listens to each one of us. Christ knows that his Father will reward us because his love is within us and because his love does not need the support of others to confirm our actions and our beliefs.
Holy Father, God in heaven, grant us thy will, that we may be better persons in your sight. Grant us your knowledge that we may know your perfect will for us. Help us to see your love in ourselves and that same love within our brothers and sisters, whether they are saved or lost. For it is you who created the heavens and the earth, the stars and the moon, and the universe. It is you who sends the rains that give life to the earth. It is you who makes the sun shine on the good and the bad. It is you who causes the wind to blow in the summer and the winter. And Father, it is you who will judge the earth at the end of time. Help us to be watchful daily that we may be prepared when you call us home, that we may rejoice being with you in heaven. We give you all the praise and the glory, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
Christ continues to give us examples of things that we should not do that will cause us to loose our reward with God. We started this chapter with Christ telling us that our intentions should be pure. Just as in the previous paragraph he told us to do our good in secret, he tells us in this paragraph to pray in secret also. He tells us to not be like hypocrites, where we pray standing in the synagogue and on street corners to be seen by men. Why do we need the approval and acceptance of men to pray? Why is it necessary to be recognized by others that we do good? Is it because the truth of our beliefs is not real? Is it because we need the support of others to believe in ourselves?
Faith requires that we believe in something that is not evident. It requires that we know and are able to act upon what we say that we believe. Trust is faith in action, and the strength of our actions demonstrates the strength of our trust and the depth of our faith. If our faith is week then our actions will be shallow. If our trust is unfounded then our actions will be narrow and limited and will require support from others. Insane people talk to themselves, see things that others do not see, and believe things that are not real. Faith is part insanity because it requires us to believe something that has very little support. Yet God is real. God does provide. And God reveals himself to those who seek him. So if we seek the knowledge of God earnestly, he will daily give us the truth that we need to know him and the support that we need to believe in him. Then our beliefs will be true and our actions will be real.
So we pray in our hearts because we know that God is real. We pray in private because we know that our prayers will be answered and that God hears us. We pray because we give thanks to God daily, sometimes hourly, for the things that he does for us, for the love that he shows us. We sing in private because we are filled with the love of his presence within us, and around us, and upon us. This is the God that Christ wants us to know when he instructs us to do things in secret. He knows that our God listens to each one of us. Christ knows that his Father will reward us because his love is within us and because his love does not need the support of others to confirm our actions and our beliefs.
Holy Father, God in heaven, grant us thy will, that we may be better persons in your sight. Grant us your knowledge that we may know your perfect will for us. Help us to see your love in ourselves and that same love within our brothers and sisters, whether they are saved or lost. For it is you who created the heavens and the earth, the stars and the moon, and the universe. It is you who sends the rains that give life to the earth. It is you who makes the sun shine on the good and the bad. It is you who causes the wind to blow in the summer and the winter. And Father, it is you who will judge the earth at the end of time. Help us to be watchful daily that we may be prepared when you call us home, that we may rejoice being with you in heaven. We give you all the praise and the glory, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
