Matthew 6:5-13 5 “And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you. 7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven. 11 Give us our food for today, 12 and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

I find it ironic that immediately after Jesus giving us a warning about repetitive, meaningless prayer, he teaches us the prayer that almost every Christian prays repeatedly every Sunday!  So what’s the difference?  Sometimes, sadly, there isn’t much difference.  Sometimes our prayers are just loose hopes that God will do something if we just say the right words.  If our prayers are just words with no heart and soul, then we are already getting our reward.

Luke 11:9-13 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks. 11 “You fathers– if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

This is where I can really understand prayer!  Two simple messages – 1st – Don’t give up on God.  Have faith that He will provide.  Keep seeking His blessing.  2nd – God will give us what we need, not what we want.  He’s not going to give us something that isn’t good for us.  If we are seeking something we need, God will give us what is good for us.  God gives good gifts.

Matthew 21:18-22 18 In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, 19 and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs on it, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up. 20 The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” 21 Then Jesus told them, “I assure you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and it will happen. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

I’ve always thought of this passage as the “prayer lottery” – if you pray hard enough and believe enough, you will win!!  The truth is that this passage isn’t about simple belief, it is about faith, and there’s a difference.  Belief is just believing something to be true.  Faith is putting your trust in that something (or in the case of God – someone!).  To have faith is to seek God and do more than just believe He exists and will grant you whatever you want (like a great cosmic Santa Claus), but to trust in God to provide.  When we put our faith in Christ and follow Christ, then we will be seeking the same things for Christ that He wants for our lives.  Then, when our hearts are in line with the heart of God, we will seek the things God wants, and He will provide.

Mark 9:14-29  14 At the foot of the mountain they found a great crowd surrounding the other disciples, as some teachers of religious law were arguing with them.  15 The crowd watched Jesus in awe as he came toward them, and then they ran to greet him.  16 “What is all this arguing about?” he asked.  17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son for you to heal him. He can’t speak because he is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk.  18 And whenever this evil spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth and become rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”  19 Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”  20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.  21 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was very small.  22 The evil spirit often makes him fall into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can.”  23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”  24 The father instantly replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”  25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Spirit of deafness and muteness,” he said, “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”  26 Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy lay there motionless, and he appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd, “He’s dead.”  27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.  28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”  29 Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer. “

I can relate to so much in this scripture.  Sometimes life is just too much to handle on my own.  I try everything I know, but it is still too much.  In those times I need to call on Christ.  He is the one who can handle what we cannot.  Life may try to destroy us, but Jesus can restore us.  Even if life may leave us for dead, Christ can bring us new life.  We can either stand around and argue about hows and whys (much like I imagine the disciples and teachers were), or we can seek Christ and His healing.  This is what prayer is about – giving our lives to Christ that He can bring us wholeness and life.