Face To Face: Prayerনমুনা

Day 4!  Praise hands!  You're doing great!

Let's talk about another thing that we sometimes struggle with when we pray: not feeling like we are saying the right things.  We all have that friend or family member that prays in old, fancy style language.  It sounds like they are free-styling a poem, and it can make us feel like our own prayers aren't good enough.  Good news!  Jesus said we don't have to worry about that!

In Matthew 6 (Verses 5-8 if you want to check it out yourself) Jesus talks about people who pray really, really fancy.  He says some of them pray fancy because they are trying to impress other people, but Jesus says we shouldn't worry about that.  God is interested in the heart of what we are saying, not how well we are saying it.

Jesus said other people pray fancy because they think it impresses God, but Jesus says we shouldn't do that either!  God knows everything, He already knows what we need, so He doesn't care about whether we say it the right way.  He only cares that we are taking the time to trust Him by asking for His help.

When my kids come to me and ask me for something, it doesn't impress me if they start with, "Beloved Father, provider of all my toys, let the Lucky Charms flow from thee like mighty rivers!"  All I care about is that they come to me when they want help...  Because it shows me that they believe I am strong and trustworthy enough to help.  That's what we are doing when we pray.  Don't worry about your prayers being fancy.  That isn't important to God.

Today we are going to pray Scripture again.  Take your time!  When the Psalm says, "May I never forget the good things He has done for me" pray it like this: "God, help me to remember the good things you have done for me" and then actually stop and remember some of those things.  Thank God for them!  Do that for the whole passage on this day.