Babbling

Matthew 6:6,7

Sometimes I am a spiritual tourist when it comes to prayer. I want to explore the territory, see the sights, get a little spiritual high, or maybe a stamp in my righteousness passport (Look, I spent a full hour in prayer! Check that one off), and return to my country no worse for wear.

But the problem is that God has different motives than me. I want to go to prayer and come back feeling good about myself; he wants me to come to prayer and be convicted that I'm a sinner. I want to go to prayer and pray long enough and hard enough and passionately enough so that I can pretend that that little issue he's been trying to talk to me about lately doesn't really matter because (well look) I pray a lot!

I think this is partially what Jesus is referring to when he says, "And when you pray, do not keep babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words" (Matthew 6:7). Prayer is not an exercise to appease God or win spiritual brownie points. Many babbling words are useless. "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:8).

God is present in prayer first. When I genuinely come to pray, I'm not looking for an experience but a Person. I'm looking for the Person who will transform me and empower me to live well under the joyful Lordship of Christ.