By Cindy
All believers in God know that praying is the only way through which our spirits can connect with God’s Spirit, and that we cannot practice our faith without it. However, many of us have no idea what true prayer is though we make prayers every day. Perhaps some people might say, “I pray to God every day. In the morning, I entrust the entire day to God in my prayer and express my wishes to Him, begging Him to lead me throughout the day; in the evening, I pray to God confessing my sins. Is it not truly praying to God?” Some say, “Every day I give thanks before meals and express thanks in everything. Am I not truly praying to God?” Still others may say, “In my prayer, I can recite many passages of the Bible, and speak for a long time. Isn’t it a true prayer?” Indeed, there is no denying that all these above are prayers made to God, but are they true prayers?
- Prayers that are merely going through the motions are not approved by God.
Let’s look at two passages of God’s words, “Prayer is not a case of just going through the motions, following procedure, or reciting the words of God. That is to say, praying is not parroting certain words and it is not imitating others. In prayer, one must reach the state where one’s heart can be given to God, laying open one’s heart so that it may be moved by God.” “They focus only on making a fuss over how they practice, and they treat God’s words as rules to follow. Such people are not putting God’s words into practice; they are just gratifying the flesh, and performing for other people to see. These religious rules and rituals are all human in origin; they do not come from God. God does not follow rules, nor is He subject to any law. Rather, He does new things every day, accomplishing practical work. Like people in the Three-Self Church, who limit themselves to practices such as attending morning services every day, offering evening prayers and prayers of gratitude before meals, and giving thanks in all things—however much they do and for however long they do it, they will not have the work of the Holy Spirit. When people live amidst rules and have their hearts fixed on methods of practice, the Holy Spirit cannot work, because their hearts are occupied by rules and human notions. Thus, God is unable to intervene and work on them, and they can only continue living under the control of laws. Such people are forever incapable of receiving God’s praise.”
From God’s words, we can see that if we are limited to such outward practices as daily morning watch, evening prayers, giving thanks before meals, confessing our sins, reciting the words of God and parroting the words of others, we are just going through the formalities and following procedure. Praying like this is merely clinging to rules and religious rituals, and is being perfunctory with God. Such prayer is not sincere and won’t bring us enjoyment, nor will it enable us to gain the work of the Holy Spirit or strengthen our love for God. For all those who make prayers like this, no matter how many times they pray in a day, or how many years they practice praying, God will never do work on them, and they therefore won’t get their life dispositions changed, nor will they gain a real knowledge of God or be approved by God.
Take the prayers of the Pharisees as an example. They prayed in the synagogues and on the street corners, saying words pleasant to hear and appearing very pious, yet they did all this just for others to see and hear while in their hearts there was no place for God at all. After praying, they didn’t practice any of God’s words, but instead devoured widows’ property and murdered prophets and righteous people. Their prayers were simply a case of going through motions and formalities and were a performance of religious rituals, which were hypocritical and detestable to God. That was why God warned us not to pray as the Pharisees did, just as what the Lord Jesus said, “And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men” (Matthew 6:5).
Let me give you another example. I know a pastor who recites a number of scriptures every time he prays, seemingly very sincere and pious, but behind the scenes, he schemes against other co-workers and even embezzles the church offerings. Obviously, he is just going through the motions and following the religious rituals when he prays, and he is treating God perfunctorily and deceiving God. God will never work on such people like him who don’t have the slightest fear or knowledge of God and He also detests their prayers.
Also, we often imitate the pastors and preachers in our prayers by repeating almost every word they say. When praying, we express our willingness to faithfully expend for the Lord and practice His words to satisfy God, but when we encounter practical problems, we forget all about what we have prayed. For example, when our family affairs conflict with our work in the church, we find excuses to escape our duties. When we support the brothers and sisters who went back to the world many times but they are still unwilling to turn around, we lose our patience and tolerance. And when our children don’t listen to us, we usually fly into a rage. Clearly, most times we just pray one way but do another way, failing to fulfill what we have said in prayers. This is all because we don’t say our prayers from the depths of our hearts but just go through the motions and follow the rituals by repeating the same things every day, with the thought that it’s enough that we have reported before God. In fact, this is dealing with God perfunctorily and trying to fool God and deceive God. God will never listen to prayers that are not sincere, nor will He acknowledge them, so if we pray like this, we will never gain the touch of the Holy Spirit but instead will feel dry and barren inside. This is not truly praying. So what does it mean to truly pray?
- What does it mean to truly pray?
God’s words say: “What is true prayer? It is telling God what is in your heart, communing with God as you grasp His will, communicating with God through His words, feeling especially close to God, sensing He is there before you, and believing you have something to say to Him. Your heart feels filled with light and you feel how lovable God is. You feel especially inspired, and listening to you brings gratification to your brothers and sisters. They will feel that the words you speak are the words within their hearts, the words they wish to say, as though your words were a substitute for their own. This is what true prayer is. After you have engaged in true prayer, your heart will be at peace and will know gratification. The strength to love God can rise up, and you will feel that there is nothing of greater value or significance in life than loving God. All this proves that your prayers have been effective.” “The minimum that God requires of man is that man be able to open his heart to Him. If man gives his true heart to God and speaks what is truly in his heart, then God is willing to work in him. What God desires is not the twisted heart of man, but a pure and honest heart. If man does not speak from his heart to God, then God will not move his heart or work in him. Therefore, the crux of prayer is to speak to God from your heart, telling Him your shortcomings or rebellious disposition, laying yourself completely open before Him; only then will God be interested in your prayers, or else He will hide His face from you.”
From God’s words we can see that whether it is a true prayer doesn’t depend on how much we say or how pleasant our words are, but is instead decided by whether or not we are speaking our innermost thoughts. When we pray to God with our true hearts, we will feel touched and gratified in our spirits and our resolution to pursue to satisfy God will be inspired—this kind of prayer is true. In our daily life, we have experienced happy or upsetting things, we have felt moved after relying on God to overcome the difficulties, or we have also felt reproached for doing something against God’s will. We can bring all this before God, pray and seek for His will, and ask for the guidance of His words. If we are able to resolve some problems through relying on God every day, then our strength to love God will rise up and we will feel it so great to believe in God and that God’s words can solve all our problems. As a result, our resolution to expend for God will be ignited and we will become eager to bring more people before God so that they can receive His salvation. This is the result achieved by truly praying to God. There are no rules to prayer, nor does it has anything to do with how much we say. As long as we speak honestly and sincerely, God will listen.
I remember the experiences of a sister who has been working in the church for several years, during which time the money she earned was just enough to cover her daily expenses. Once her relative invited her to start a factory in partnership. She felt this was a good opportunity to earn big money and live a good life, but meanwhile she also knew that taking this opportunity meant that she would have no time or energy to work in the church anymore. Because of this, she was caught in a dilemma—she neither wanted to betray God nor let such a good opportunity slip. Just when she felt pain and didn’t know how to choose, she prayed to God, telling Him her innermost thoughts and true state: “O God, now I really want to open a factory with my relative to earn more money, but in that case, I will have no time to work for You. God, I don’t want to betray You, but I feel it is so hasd to overcome the temptation of money. I beg You to guide me so that I can make the right decision and act in accordance with Your will….” After many times of speaking to God what was in her heart and confiding in God her practical difficulties in prayers, she saw these words of the Lord Jesus: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36–37). The sister then realized that getting rich was not the will of God. Even if we own all the money in the world and lead a superior life, what is the point of it if we miss the chance to be saved and lose our lives? Besides, pursuing fame and fortune can only provide us with temporary enjoyment and glory, after which we still feel empty. There were so many celebrities and stars who had money but still felt empty and who committed suicide at a young age. Coming to this realization, the sister resolutely declined her relative’s offer and again threw herself into serving God. This was the result achieved by her true prayers to God, which enabled her to overcome the temptation of money and live in God’s care and protection.
In addition, sometimes when we are trapped in a negative state whereby we lose interest in reading God’s words, we should pray to God, “O God, I’m now very negative and my heart is so dark that I don’t want to read Your words. God, I don’t know what leads to this. Please guide me to find the reason so that I can return before You to read Your words.” Though these words are simple and may not sound pleasant, they come straight from our hearts and give voice to our real condition, so God will listen.
In a word, if we use a true heart to pray to God, telling Him our innermost thoughts and the truth, then that is truly praying, and by doing so, we will be able to establish a normal relationship with Him and live under His care and protection.
