Jesus gave us a warning in Matthew 6, that when we pray, we are not to pray like a hypocrite.
What did He mean? How does a hypocrite pray?
Oftentimes, their well-worded prayers are spoken from a heart that seeks attention from others. They want to be recognized and to be noted how religious they are.
The problem is not in the well-worded prayers, the problem is that their heart is rooted in their own goodness.
They are praying with a religious spirit.
A religious spirit attempts to exercise control and power over your spiritual health like a yeast permeating your soul.
In Matthew 12 Jesus tells us that we are to be on guard against the hypocrite because their pious behavior can harm us.
Hypocrites are everywhere, even in the pulpit.
So, how do we guard against them?
First, learn to build your own relationship with Jesus from a place of solitude.
So often in scripture it says that Jesus went off by himself to pray.
Pray your heart to Him unabandoned and without shame or comparison where no one else can hear you.
Pray as much and as often as you can by yourself. Learn to live your daily life in an attitude of prayer and build a solid trusting relationship with Jesus.
By doing this, you will know first-hand how precious His voice is and experience His gentle presence and how trustworthy He is.
He is the God who has taken up residence inside of you and He is always ready to commune with you when you pray.
Secondly, pray with others. God’s math says, if “1 can put a thousand to flight, 2 will put 10,000 to flight.” Deut. 32:30 I’ve always been amazed at how much our spiritual power increases when we pray with each other in unity.
Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, “Let Us Pray” sums it up.
“Let us pray, let us pray
Everywhere and every way
Every moment of the day it is the right time
For the Father above, He is listening with love
And He wants to answer us, Oh let us pray
Let us pray without end and when we finish start again
Like breathing out and breathing in,
Let us pray.”
I believe in you,
Love, Barbie
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