Tag Archives: pagans

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE WAY OF THE KINGDOM – 32a

Bible Study, ,

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? …But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭22‬-‭26‬, ‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬ 

I have skipped over much of Jesus’ teaching about money because, first, He summed up our attitude by explaining that we will serve what we love…God or money. Second, our use or misuse of money shows us where our priorities lie. We store our wealth in banks to serve ourselves in place of storing it in heaven to serve others. 

Our attitude to money also influences our prayers. We so often lose track of real issues in our praying because our lack, that is, our needs, preoccupy us. Jesus commented that when we do this, we think like pagans. They are bent on chasing money to satisfy both need and greed. However, as God’s children, He has pledged to take care of our needs. If God cares about birds and flowers, what about us?

So, how do we factor our daily needs in our real world into our lives as citizens of God’s unseen realm? 

Our first consideration is…how seriously do we take Jesus’ words? Did He really mean that God is concerned about what we  eat, drink, and wear?

Second, if we mustn’t focus our prayers on our needs, how do we get our everyday needs met? Jesus’ prescription is simple…change your focus. If God is always about His kingdom…His rule in the hearts of His people, this includes His economic system, the way to use our money…then so must we. 

“And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭29‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s economic system is so radically different from the world’s that we struggle to believe that it’s true. The world’s way is to gather and hoard. God’s way is to give and receive so that the resources keep circulating according to need. This way of handling our money demands radical confidence in the faithfulness of God. 

God’s way of doing things is based on generosity. Jesus said…

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭38‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, in God’s realm, when we do money His way, He takes care of our needs when we take care of the needs of others. When we follow Jesus’ instructions, He catapults us into a way of life…freedom from worry…that we could never dream possible. 

Our needs, therefore, are not intended as a roadblock, to sidetrack us in our prayer lives, but as a stepping stone to trigger a greater understanding and experience of how God’s kingdom works. When we take care of the needs of others, and God, in response, takes care of ours, what better way to love the Lord Jesus than by loving His people!

To be continued…

A WALK THROUGH THE LORD’S PRAYER – 1b

Prayer, ,

Jesus’ first warning, in the preamble to His pattern prayer, was not to pray for attention, for people’s reward, but to pray in secret for the Father’s reward…

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV

His second warning was not to babble like pagans. This is more than using many words in prayer. Prayer, of necessity, is expressed in words, as one rabbi said, “Prayer without words in not prayer because being human involves speech.” God hears our “thought prayers” but our problem is that our thoughts are often random and wandering. 

There are two problems associated with pagan prayers. 

First, true prayer is the expression of a relationship between  a Father and His children. Pagan prayer is a delusion because no such relationship exists between gods and people. 

Second, pagans use words in prayer as mantras, believing that their god will hear them if they mutter the same words repeatedly, for example…like praying the rosary. 

Jesus said, ”Don’t do that because you are talking to a real heavenly Father who knows everything about you without your saying a word.“ 

However, this warning goes even deeper. The pagans’ mantras are about their preoccupation with “things”. Without God, material and physical things in life matter most because things take up all the attention of godless people.  Again, Jesus said, 

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” 

Matthew 6:31-42 NIV

The real issue is…our prayers must be concerned with what is most important to the Father and what He has mandated us to do on earth…

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭31‬-‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Everything else about us comes under the banner of a father’s responsibility towards his children.  A normal child never nags a parent about the next meal even if the fridge and the pantry are empty. He entrusts that concern to his parents. So, Jesus said, “Take care of God’s business and He will take care of yours.”

Notice, however, the order of Jesus’ promise…The Father doesn’t initiate our obedience, He reciprocates to our faith in who He is. If we consistently trust Him to be father, and submit to His authority, He will act as a good father, meeting all our needs. 

JESUS’ TEACHING ON PRAYER

Christian Life, ,

JESUS’ TEACHING ON PRAYER

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites….And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans….this then is how you should pray.” Matthew 6:5,7,8.

Although Jesus gives specific teaching on prayer, the whole of the Sermon on the Mount is interwoven with principles which apply to our prayer lives e.g., unforgiveness blocks our fellowship with God, as does a critical and judgmental spirit, broken relationships with people, greed, worry etc. and even our attitude to Jesus’ teachings. Since most of us learn to pray by listening to and copying other people, we need a complete mind shift about prayer.

In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus clears the ground by using the illustration of two classes of people who had become role models for the ordinary people; religious people (whom He called “hypocrites”) and pagans (nationals or Gentiles).

Hypocrites (play actors) were people with more than one face, playing an assumed character to an audience. People who are praying to an audience are more aware of the people around them than of God. The antidote to people-awareness is solitude. Get away from people so that you can focus on God.

Gentiles were idol worshippers. Their problem was to get their gods to hear them. (e.g., Elijah and the prophets of Baal). Since their gods were deaf and dumb and without understanding, they had to use many words in their prayers.  Jesus called it “babbling” from the Greek word “to stutter”. We also easily fall into the trap of thinking that we must explain or repeat ourselves as though God were either deaf or retarded. Prayer is not about words. Prayer is about awareness.

Because we have the wrong idea about prayer, we think that the purpose for prayer is to make God aware of our needs. Words and needs are connected. We must use the right words to make sure God understands our needs. This concept of prayer is erroneous for two reasons. It ignores the fact the God is our Father, and it forgets that God knows our needs before we ask Him

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus teaches us how to view our needs. He said, “Take no thought…” This does not mean worry. It means do not allow thoughts to consume your mind to the exclusion of everything else. Your basic human needs are to be the concern of your Father, not yours.  You are of greater value than birds and flowers.  Let God fulfil His role as a true Father without your taking that from Him.

You are to have a different spirit from the Gentiles whose whole life is taken up with meeting their own needs. God’s way for us is to take care of the needs of others.  Then He will take care of our needs.

The first step in understanding what prayer is, is to recognise that prayer is not about words or needs but about becoming aware of God and moving into the environment of our Father’s knowledge and care of us. We should never approach our God in the same manner as the hypocrites or pagans who use their gods to suit their own ends. W come to our God one His terms as the great sovereign of the universe and we as His subjects.

JESUS AND PRAYER

Christian Life, ,

JESUS AND PRAYER

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: Matthew 6:5-9

Prayer was another subject to which Jesus gave a fair amount of attention. Why was prayer much more important to Him than it often is to us? Prayer was His lifeline to the Father. It was important that His disciples understood that prayer was the way that human sons and daughters communicated with their unseen heavenly Father.

Prayer as the Bible presents it, does not exist outside of this relationship. People may “pray” to their gods, but it is nothing more than babbling to something that does not exist. The God of the Bible is the only one who responds to prayer. Oh, some may call it coincidence but when people pray, coincidence happens. When they don’t, it doesn’t!

You who answer prayer, to you all people will come (Psa. 65:2).

Jesus took time to teach His disciples about prayer and He often prayed in their presence. For Him, motive and attitude was as important as the prayers themselves. In His first teaching session with them, according to Matthew, He set the scene by warning them about wrong attitudes and motives.

There were two groups of people whose example Jesus’s discipleswere not to follow, the hypocrites and the pagans, for very good reasons. Who were these people?

  1. The hypocrites

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (Matt. 6: 5)

The first group were the “hypocrites.” The word “hypocrite” originates from classical Greek where the word was used of an actor who wore a mask to impersonate a character in a play. “Hypocrites” came to mean those who pretended to be who they were not. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites on more than one occasion, revealing who the hypocrites were of whom He spoke here. These men exposed the falseness of their own hearts by their contradictory behaviour, doing the “right thing” but ignoring the spirit of Torah.

It was a common practice to pray standing in the synagogue with arms upraised towards God. Jesus did not condemn their posture since the Bible advocates different postures in prayer, including standing before the Lord. He drew attention to their motive – they wanted to be seen so that they could be admired by their onlookers. They chose the most visible and public places for prayer so that they would be noticed and admired for their piety and, of course, for their long prayers. Jesus was adamant that they were not the model to follow. Why?

The reward they wanted was not from God but from people. They wanted accolades so that they could be admired and applauded with no thought of seeking God’s approval and God’s answers. Prayer had become ritualistic repetition, mere religious exercises with no sense of need for God. Jesus assured His disciples that, if this was all the reward they sought, it was the only reward they would get.

Prayer is not about impressing people. It’s not even about impressing God. Prayer is about seeking the face of God out of weakness and need. God responds readily to those who pray for the right reasons.

The ordinary people were surrounded by self-seeking, approval “addicts” whose prayer model was reprehensible – despicable, inexcusable, and unacceptable – but His disciples were not to follow their example. Better to seek solitude and commune with God in secret where there are no watching eyes and listening ears than to pray in public, so that prayer can be sincere and real.

  • The pagans

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matt. 6: 7)

The second group were the “pagans”. Who were the pagans? Jesus mentioned pagans on at least four occasions in Matthew’s gospel.

  1. Pagans only relate to those who relate to them (Matt. 5:45-47).
  2. Pagans mutter empty repetitive prayers (Matt. 6: 6-8).
  3. Pagans run after material things (Matt. 6: 31-33).
  4. Pagans refuse to respond to the process of reconciliation (Matt. 18: 15-17).

In Bible times, people who worshipped false gods were regarded as pagans. They were despised, not only for their idolatry but also because of what they did.

For you have spent enough time in the past doing what the pagans choose to do – living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. (1 Peter 4: 3)

Jesus warned His disciples not to allow their prayers to degenerate into “babbling”. Another word for “babble” is to “mutter”. Why did pagans mutter? They muttered because they wanted to be heard. Empty repetition was the hallmark of pagan “prayer”. They had no assurance that their gods ever heard them. The cry of the priests of Baal from morning until noon when Elijah challenged them to a contest on Mount Carmel was, “O Baal, answer us!” 91 Kings 18: 26). Elijah’s short prayer, by contrast, was answered immediately! (1 Kings 18: 36-38).

How easy it is to “babble” when we commune with a God we cannot see and hear! God is spirit. Our communion with Him takes place in the spirit, with or without words. We must keep in mind that God hears our hearts, not our words. We need to practise God-awareness which takes us beyond ourselves and our concerns into the realm where God is sovereign and knows and works far beyond our thoughts and understanding.

God-awareness will save us from putting our circumstances before God, and from being need-and-word orientated rather than God-conscious. Our Father knows our needs before we ask Him. When we concentrate on needs and words rather than on God and who He is, our prayers degenerate into “panic” praying or giving Him information or advice. This is not prayer. This is paganism – speaking to gods who must be informed or persuaded because they do not exist.

Prayer is essentially the interaction between a loving Father and His submissive and obedient child. It is the communion of heart with heart.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Jesus And Prayer

Christian Life, , , , ,

JESUS AND PRAYER

Prayer was another subject to which Jesus gave a fair amount of attention. Why was prayer much more important to Him than it often is to us? Prayer was His lifeline to the Father. It was important that His disciples understood that prayer was the way that human sons and daughters communicated with their unseen heavenly Father.

Prayer as the Bible presents it, does not exist outside of this relationship. People may “pray” to their gods but it is nothing more than babbling to something that does not exist. The God of the Bible is the only one who responds to prayer. Oh, some may call it coincidence but when people pray, coincidence happens. When they don’t, it doesn’t!

You who answer prayer, to you all people will come (Psa. 65:2).

Jesus took time to teach His disciples about prayer and He often prayed in their presence. For Him, motive and attitude was as important as the prayers themselves. In His first teaching session with them, according to Matthew, He set the scene by warning them about wrong attitudes and motives.

There were two groups of people whose example Jesus’s disciples were not to follow, the hypocrites and the pagans, for very good reasons. Who were these people?

  1. The hypocrites

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (Matt. 6: 5)

The first group were the “hypocrites.” The word “hypocrite” originates from classical Greek where the word was used of an actor who wore a mask to impersonate a character in a play. “Hypocrites” came to mean those who pretended to be who they were not. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites on more than one occasion, revealing the identity of the hypocrites were of whom He spoke here. Theses men exposed the falseness of their own hearts by their contradictory behaviour, doing the “right thing” but ignoring the spirit of Torah.

It was a common practice to pray standing in the synagogue with arms upraised towards God. Jesus did not condemn their posture since the Bible advocates different postures in prayer, including standing before the Lord. He drew attention to their motive – they wanted to be seen so that they could be admired by their onlookers. They chose the most visible and public places for prayer so that they would be noticed and admired for their piety and, of course, for their long prayers. Jesus was adamant that they were not the model to follow. Why?

The reward they wanted was not from God but from people. They wanted accolades so that they could be admired and applauded with no thought of seeking God’s approval and God’s answers. Prayer had become ritualistic repetition, mere religious exercises with no sense of need for God. Jesus assured His disciples that, if this was all the reward they sought, it was the only reward they would get.

Prayer is not about impressing people. It’s not even about impressing God. Prayer is about seeking the face of God out of weakness and need. God responds readily to those who pray for the right reasons.

The ordinary people were surrounded by self-seeking, approval “addicts” whose prayer model was reprehensible – despicable, inexcusable and unacceptable – but His disciples were not to follow their example. Better to seek solitude and commune with God in secret where there are no watching eyes and listening ears than to pray in public, so that prayer can be sincere and real.

  1. The pagans

 

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matt. 6: 7)

The second group were the “pagans”. Who were the pagans? Jesus mentioned pagans on at least four occasions in Matthew’s gospel.

  1. Pagans only relate to those who relate to them (Matt. 5:45-47).
  2. Pagans mutter empty repetitive prayers (Matt. 6: 6-8).
  3. Pagans run after material things (Matt. 6: 31-33).
  4. Pagans refuse to respond to the process of reconciliation (Matt. 18: 15-17).

In Bible times, people who worshipped false gods were regarded as pagans. They were despised, not only for their idolatry but also because of what they did.

For you have spent enough time in the past doing what the pagans choose to do – living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. (1 Peter 4: 3)

Jesus warned His disciples not to allow their prayers to degenerate into “babbling”. Another word for “babble” is to “mutter”. Why did pagans mutter? They muttered because they wanted to be heard. Empty repetition was the hallmark of pagan “prayer”. They had no assurance that their gods ever heard them. The cry of the priests of Baal from morning until noon when Elijah challenged them to a contest on Mount Carmel was, “O Baal, answer us!” 91 Kings 18: 26). Elijah’s short prayer, by contrast, was answered immediately! (1 Kings 18: 36-38).

How easy it is to “babble” when we commune with a God we cannot see and hear! God is spirit. Our communion with Him takes place in the spirit, with or without words. We must keep in mind that God hears our hearts, not our words. We need to practise God-awareness which takes us beyond ourselves and our concerns into the realm where God is sovereign and knows and works far beyond our thoughts and understanding.

God-awareness will save us from putting our circumstances before God, and from being need-and-word orientated rather than God-conscious. Our Father knows our needs before we ask Him. When we concentrate on needs and words rather than on God and who He is, our prayers degenerate into “panic” praying or giving Him information or advice. This is not prayer. This is paganism – speaking to gods who have to be informed or persuaded because they do not exist.

Prayer is essentially the interaction between a loving Father and His submissive and obedient child. It is the communion of heart with heart.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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