Matthew 6:8-13

If the Christian is not careful, he or she will allow the ways of the world to influence how we live as citizens of the kingdom of God. Prayer is an example of where we have made a simple process complex.

For instance, anyone who has begun their own small business with assistance from the government’s Small Business Association program will testify, through gritted teeth, of the complexity of the process. Entrepreneurs use the SBA as a last resort because of the bureaucratic challenges involved. It can take many, many months and reams of paperwork to seek and win approval for SBA funding. Or consider an existing business that wants to build a new factory. The impact statements required by the Environmental Protection Agency are voluminous. But even they are simplistic compared to the years of “asking” a drug company must go through before winning the Food and Drug Administration’s approval for a new medicine.

While safety and the stewardship of public money and health require stringent oversight, life in God’s kingdom is not that complicated. For instance, the prayer (the way to “ask”) Jesus taught His disciples consists of only 57 words in the original Greek text. And yet, when we pray, we approach God as if we were filing an application with the S.B.A., the E.P.A., or the F.D.A! The key to kingdom prayer is this: Your Father knows what you need before you ask him! The implications of this are enormous, and should change the entire way we view our relationship with God. Rather than coming to God to inform him of our needs (as if we are talking to a stranger in a government office who knows nothing about us), we should come to rest in His presence, to praise him for who he is, and to listen as His Spirit shows us how to align our requests with our true needs and His will.

Not even our earthly fathers know everything about us, but our Heavenly Father does. Why not meditate on Jesus’ model prayer and begin to relax in God’s presence? You can tell God nothing he doesn’t already know, so focus on listening to what he is telling you.

God’s Promise to You: “I know every need you have ever, or will ever, have.”