Pretentious Prayers

I was sitting in a prayer meeting recently and I heard this guy start praying. You know the type; the guy who begins to pray using a speech pattern and word choice that is so not like him. All flowery and theological. His tone changes into this ultra pious and stoic sounding manner. Putting off this “holier than thou” posture. As I heard it and became aware of it, it made my skin crawl.

“Who do you think you are?” ran through my mind. Why does he feel the need to sound super religious. We all know better. God certainly sees right through this façade.  “You do know that you can’t manipulate God by speaking in this ridiculous manner, right?”

Ok I’ll admit my cynicism now. And in truth, I really don’t know what was in his heart. He actually could have been completely sincere. But it got me thinking.  I have to confess, this pompous, pretentious prayer reminded me of…well…me.  In self-examining my own prayers, I began to ask this question, “why do I think I have to put on a show for God when I am praying?”

I know that I am not alone in this. Most of us know those that pray in the “King James English.” Some use all the Christianese they can come up with. Others want to remind God of all that they have sacrificed for Him. Still others want to pile on all the theology they can.

Sometimes I need the reminder that I cannot impress God with my knowledge, my language, nor my speech pattern. He sees through that, He sees my heart. He sees your heart. And what He sees is not pretty (Jeremiah 17:9).

It reminded me of the parable Jesus told about two approaches to prayer (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee came boastful to God, thanking Him for how good he was. The tax collector came with the simple acknowledgment that he was so undeserving and begging for mercy.

One came with pride, the other with humility. One came on his own merit, the other saw his bankruptcy. One walked away unchanged, the other walked away justified. One’s future held humiliation, the others exaltation.

Over and over Jesus condemned the “leaven of the Pharisees,” that is, self-righteousness. He rebuked the religious leaders who thought that they had earned God’s favor. He pointed out to His disciples to avoid the deceptive lies of self-righteousness. And that is the very thing that we fall to all the time.

Christians like to point out sin, but we hate to be reminded of our own sin. We like to pray publicly in such a way that causes others to think of how righteous we sound, but in doing so we are demonstrating our own unrighteous desire to be praised by man.

What would happen if all of our prayers began sincerely with “God be merciful to me a sinner!”? What would happen if we through off the pretentious attitudes and came to God in humility? How would the God use us when our prayers actually glorified God instead of tried to displace God?

Jesus demonstrated for us true humility (Philippians 2). He was willing to lay aside what He deserved to offer us what we did not deserve. James tells us (4:7-10) that when we humble ourselves, God will lift us up.

So I tell myself, stop playing games. Stop acting like you have it all together. Stop trying to show off. After all, we are all underserving sinners and our Savior wants to pour out His blessings on all who come humbly come to Him.

Following Jesus

“Come and follow me,” was the phrase Jesus used to invite His disciples into a life changing experience. He invited them on a 3 year adventure that would not only change their life but would rock the world. It was simple request, but it was costly. These first followers of Christ walked away from their homes, from their careers and they stepped out into the unknown.

They had no idea what they were in for, but they trusted the One who called them. Their faith in Jesus led them to be world changers, yet they had learning curve to get there. They lacked courage, understanding and experience. But that’s what Jesus gave them. Even after three years, they still didn’t fully get it, until they met the resurrected Lord.

It was after the resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit they began to make an exponential impact on the world. And they did this by telling others about what they had witnessed. They began to just go places and where ever they went they talked about Jesus.

You see that is the call of Jesus, “come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” He said. Somewhere along the line we have forgotten to follow Jesus and we certainly do not look like fishers of men. When did Christianity turn into a social club movement? It was never intended to just gather as a holy huddle. We were ransomed from the fire with the mission to rescue others from the fire.

If you are a Christian reading this, when is the last time you have told someone about Jesus Christ? When have you taken the opportunity to invite someone into the love of Jesus? Explained how God created us to be in a relationship with Him, but we are born into this world as sinners far from Him. Sin is a huge problem, it is the reason for all the evil in the world and no amount of good behavior will overcome it. But God loved us so much He sent His Son Jesus to pay our debt on the cross. Jesus died and rose again to pay for our sins and show us how much He loves us. And anyone who believes in Jesus alone will have new life, eternal life. That means we have a relationship with Jesus, we have been restored and reconciled?

When’s the last time you said more then “God loves you,” or “God bless you”? Followers of Christ need to be fearless, and they need to speak the truth of God’s love to this world. Start today. Pick up the phone, call or text someone. Begin a conversation to see if someone would be interested in hearing the greatest news of all time.

I’m not advocating forcing the Gospel on people. I’m encouraging conversation about thing that really matter. There is helpful and hurtful ways to share the Gospel. It is why we need Gospel fluency in our lives. So maybe the next step for you is to start talking with your Christian friends and share the Gospel, learn from each other and learn to converse about it. When talking to a non-Christian, ask questions, engage the conversation and paint a picture of who Jesus is. Don’t force it. If they don’t want to talk right now, move on. Wait until they are ready, but be in prayer.

So the strategy you need is to pray for your friends who do not know Jesus. Bring God up in conversation and see if they want to talk about Him. Paint a picture of who Jesus is by telling them why you believe in Jesus. Listen to their story and ask questions. Introduce them to Jesus and invite the to follow Him.

If your faith is lacking excitement and passion, fearlessly step out and tell someone about Jesus. It is the most exciting opportunity in the world!

What Are You Afraid Of?

What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? What are you afraid of? These questions are not only good conversation starters, but often will reveal some very interesting truths about us. Implied in these very question is the reality that all of us fear something, just what is it?

There is something about fear that is both exhilarating and dreadful. It’s exhilarating when your adrenaline is pumping, the endorphins are engaged and you have overcome a fear. This is the natural high that extreme sports participants are seeking. It’s dreadful when the fears are so big that they are crippling and overwhelming.

Some fears will always be exhilarating and others always dreadful. I can remember a time when I was a small child and awoke from an afternoon nap. I couldn’t find anyone and after calling out over and over again, I had the thought that the rapture happened and I missed it! My mom found me an emotional mess, alone and crying.

I can also think of a time when I first rappelled from the top of a 65-foot rock face in New York. Stepping backward over the edge was one of the most terrifying steps I ever took, yet the adrenaline rush was amazing. My body was literally trembling from fear, but the reward was so worth it. Or the time we went cliff diving at Split Rock, jumping from a 45-foot ledge. Scary? Yes! But amazing!

Fears, stressors and anxieties are a regular part of life. How we deal with them will lead to either excitement in overcoming or dread from being overwhelmed. What Jesus did for us by dying and overcoming death, was done to set us free from the power of our fears, stressors and anxieties.

We are told that, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). And the amazing reminder from the today’s verse of the day at www.biblegateway.com, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

One of the most significant times I felt almost crippled by my fear was on a missions trip when I was 19 years old. I signed up for a work trip, but due to rains, it turned into more of an evangelistic trip. No problem with that, except that I was terrified to talk to people about my faith. Yes, it’s true! I had a strong desire to tell others, but my fear kept me silent.

I was assigned to a group with two girls and we went door to door. I opted to let the girls do all the talking and pretended to be the silent prayer warrior. More like the big wimp. We went from house to house and I continued to defer to the ladies. On our way to the house at the end of the street I heard someone say, “I’ll talk at the next house.” I didn’t recognize the voice initially so I looked around for who said it. They all started cheering form and telling me I’d do a good job! It was then I realized that I had said it!! (In retrospect, I think the Holy Spirit prompted me to get out of my comfort zone!)

Long story short, I spoke to an 83-year-old Hindu woman and she accepted Christ as her Savior! And my life was forever changed! God gave me the power to overcome my fear.

God wants you to trust Him with your life and decisions. He wants to empower you to step out of your comfort zone and watch Him do His thing. I promise that stepping out in faith maybe supper difficult but will be the most exhilarating thing you can ever do.

I am a youth pastor today because of that moment that I shared Christ with a stranger and saw Him work in her life. It is worth it all!