Groundhog Day
Many of us are familiar with the system of repeating certain prayers that is carried out in many churches. I remember being made to learn the ‘Hail Mary,’ the Lord’s Prayer and Apostles’ Creed as a child in catechism, yet I don’t recall us ever being told to pray in our own words. Oh, better yet, there was once we were asked to write on a small card a prayer about what was current to us at that point in time. We were then advised to say that prayer every night before we went to bed. Hm. Kinda defeats the purpose of praying. So it is that many Christians are stuck in a sort of ‘groundhog day’ (like in the movie) where they repeatedly go through the motions of memorised prayers such that the meaning behind them is lost.
I’ll start with what we call the ‘Hail Mary’. In Luke 1, a pregnant Mary visits her cousin Elisabeth who at the time was pregnant with a child who would grow to become John the Baptist. The specific verses in question are found in Lk 1:41-48, where Elisabeth makes a declaration when she the revelation hits her that Mary is pregnant with the saviour of the world. What millions of believers have often repeated over time is actually Elisabeth blessing Mary and the unborn Jesus, and Mary’s gratitude that she was the one chosen to bear God’s son. So where is the relevance today of us repeating ‘hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you?’ One could argue that the real prayer is in the second half, ‘Holy Mary, mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.’
Mary is ultimately another human being. Yes I honour her for bearing Christ and for being an amazing role model in her faith. However I refuse to pray to her or to acknowledge her as intercessor. Jesus Himself says in John 14:6 :
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Straight away Jesus cuts out the middle man. That is the very reason he was born! So forget repeating the ‘Hail Mary.’ Friends, that’s not going to get you anywhere.
Similarly we tend to say the Lord’s Prayer without ever even considering the context it was written in. In Matthew 6:5-13, Jesus teaches the multitudes how to pray. It is then that he gives them what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Often we are familiar with only these verses:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
This is only from the second half of verse 9. The first half of verse 9 says “This, then, is how you should pray.” It doesn’t say anything about following his prayer word for word. Yet again, another one of Man’s misinterpretations. The earlier verses (in the NKJV) pretty much say:
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."
I think they speak for themselves but I want to point out that Jesus advises against the use of repetitions for the sake of it. Repeating a prayer for the sake of looking righteous is as bad as not praying at all. How can one be praying if one’s heart isn’t in it? My little bit for today is just to say, have your heart right when you pray and don’t repeat your prayers just so you have something to say to look good in front of others.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with praying for the same thing over and over again. Sometimes you have to in order to get a breakthrough. However, whatever it is you are praying, mean it with all your heart. Don’t allow your words to be ‘vain repetitions’ without any passion behind them. There’s so much more to be said about the Lord’s Prayer but I’ll save that for tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s focus on getting our hearts into what we pray.
I’ll start with what we call the ‘Hail Mary’. In Luke 1, a pregnant Mary visits her cousin Elisabeth who at the time was pregnant with a child who would grow to become John the Baptist. The specific verses in question are found in Lk 1:41-48, where Elisabeth makes a declaration when she the revelation hits her that Mary is pregnant with the saviour of the world. What millions of believers have often repeated over time is actually Elisabeth blessing Mary and the unborn Jesus, and Mary’s gratitude that she was the one chosen to bear God’s son. So where is the relevance today of us repeating ‘hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you?’ One could argue that the real prayer is in the second half, ‘Holy Mary, mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.’
Mary is ultimately another human being. Yes I honour her for bearing Christ and for being an amazing role model in her faith. However I refuse to pray to her or to acknowledge her as intercessor. Jesus Himself says in John 14:6 :
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Straight away Jesus cuts out the middle man. That is the very reason he was born! So forget repeating the ‘Hail Mary.’ Friends, that’s not going to get you anywhere.
Similarly we tend to say the Lord’s Prayer without ever even considering the context it was written in. In Matthew 6:5-13, Jesus teaches the multitudes how to pray. It is then that he gives them what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Often we are familiar with only these verses:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
This is only from the second half of verse 9. The first half of verse 9 says “This, then, is how you should pray.” It doesn’t say anything about following his prayer word for word. Yet again, another one of Man’s misinterpretations. The earlier verses (in the NKJV) pretty much say:
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."
I think they speak for themselves but I want to point out that Jesus advises against the use of repetitions for the sake of it. Repeating a prayer for the sake of looking righteous is as bad as not praying at all. How can one be praying if one’s heart isn’t in it? My little bit for today is just to say, have your heart right when you pray and don’t repeat your prayers just so you have something to say to look good in front of others.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with praying for the same thing over and over again. Sometimes you have to in order to get a breakthrough. However, whatever it is you are praying, mean it with all your heart. Don’t allow your words to be ‘vain repetitions’ without any passion behind them. There’s so much more to be said about the Lord’s Prayer but I’ll save that for tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s focus on getting our hearts into what we pray.
posted by Maz | Monday, October 16, 2006
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