Matthew 6:5-8 PRAYING WITHOUT PRETENSE

  Of all the privileges the saints of God enjoy, perhaps the greatest is the privilege of prayer.  To be able to go directly into the presence of the Lord is an honor beyond description, Heb. 4:16.  To be able to speak to the God Who created and controls the universe, and to know that He has promised to hear us and to answer us, Jer. 33:3; Isa. 65:24, is a blessing to great to comprehend.  When you consider the fact that real prayer is not just our sending words out into thin air, but that real praying is used by God to accomplish His purposes on the earth, it boggles the mind!  What a gift we have been given!  What a privilege is ours, to be able to speak to God; knowing He will hear and He will answer; knowing that He has invited us to be involved with Him in the work He is doing!

      But, like anything else in life, we humans can even mess up something as profound and beautiful as prayer.  Since the time of Seth in Gen. 4:26, men have been calling upon the name of the Lord.  Many have prayed properly and have seen God move in tremendous power as He heard and answered those prayers.  Others have prayed out of wrong motives and have received nothing in answer to their requests.

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