Jesus lived in communion with the Father. So when He taught the disciples to pray, he taught them to address the Father. His teaching is recorded in the 6th chapter of Matthew.
But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you… Pray, then, in this way: Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6:6, 9 (NASB95)
Jesus came to restore an intimate relationship with the Father. He removed our sin and reconciled us to the Father so we could learn to live in His presence. When we pray, we are to go into our inner room and talk with our Father. From that place of closeness in the inner room, we relate to Him. There, in His presence, we give Him our love and worship. We seek for His Kingdom and His will to be accomplished in our lives and in the earth. (Matthew 6:6-10)
Of all the spiritual disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father.1
Many times we think of prayer as asking or advising God about things that we need. However, the passage in Matthew says that He already knows what we need before we ask Him (vs. 8). If this is true, what is the purpose of prayer? In God’s heart, it is an opportunity for His sons and daughters to enter His presence and commune with Him.
Through Jesus, this relationship of communion with the Father is available to us. So, the next time you pray, enter your Heavenly Father’s presence and spend time with Him there.
__________________________
1 Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (HarperOne, 1998), 33.
Comments