Prayer should be authentic; it's not a performance

In the church I serve we are getting ready to look at what Jesus has to say about prayer. In all the things He says about prayer one thing stands out -- we take what God created and add to it what He never intended.

Matthew records one of the teachings that Jesus gave on the issue of prayer. In the book of Matthew we find what many have, called The Lords Prayer. Jesus giving this instruction on prayer fronts it with some real clear examples of what not to do when you pray. The sad thing is that if you have been around church people for any length of time there is no doubt in my mind that you have seen before your eyes 21st century examples of what Jesus said to avoid in the first-century.

First he describes the performer. This is the person who prays because they know that they are being watched. So they either volunteer a lot to pray in public or when they prayer they go through his amazing split personality transformation. The same person, who in conversation speaks redneck, when given the opportunity to pray in front of others miraculously, speaks fluent 17th century Kings English.

Next Jesus describes the piler. This is the person who has figured out what all the right religious words to use are and use's them over and over again. But they have no idea what any of them mean. They hide behind lofty speech in the hopes that everyone who hears them will come to the conclusion that they are a supra-spiritual person.

Jesus uses these examples to highlight how we often take what is supposed to be simple and complicate it so much that no longer resembles what was set out to do. In this case prayer no longer is about prayer but about a performance.

Prayer is not a performance. Jesus says prayer is designed to fuel our relationship with God and foster our relationships with others. Whether you never have prayed in your life or you pause to pray before every meal the act of prayer suspends the chaos or the comfort of the moment driving us toward God and presses us towards others.

God hears not because we are impressive or that we know all of the right words. God hears when we want to know Him.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.