Matthew 6:7-8

Matthew 6:7-8 - "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Have you ever read those words and thought that you don't really need to spend time praying, since God knows your heart anyway? I have. I just thought it was so odd that we, as Christians, would sit around a table at times and share prayer requests. Then once everyone has gotten everything off their chests, we would all bow our heads and start praying. I often felt that as we were sharing just moments ago, God heard us... and really even before that, He knew what was going on. Why did we have to then pray for each thing that we just spoke about?

Recently I've been learning a lot about prayer and I've been seeking God for big things... and it's been fun to watch how He's been answering those prayers. I've been challenged to be a more grateful person and to keep praying even when it seems hard or even selfish. A friend has even given me a few books that I've been reading on the topic of prayer.

This morning I was reading one of them called The Contemporaries Meet the Classics on Prayer (compiled by Leonard Allen), and a section really caught my attention that helps me understand the importance of prayer.

Shirley Dobson wrote this:
"I have often wondered why the Bible places such a heavy emphasis on prayer, especially since Jesus reminded us during the Sermon on the Mount that 'your Father knows what you need before you ask him' (Matthew 6:8). When I mentioned this to my husband, his response was both simple and profound: 'Well, God desires a relationship with each one of us, and there is no relationship in eavesdropping!'"

That makes so much sense to me. When we just talk about praying for something or someone, or even make promises to people that we will "lift them up in prayer" (as so many Christians do, sometimes we just expect God to be listening at that moment and treat that as the prayer. But that's just letting him eavesdrop on our conversations, and not talking directly to Him.

I want to take this as a challenge to really pray more for things that I say I will. I want to go directly to God and share with Him how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking or how great He is or how much I need Him. I want to be in a close relationship with Him rather than just let him watch my life go on without Him. How about you?