Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
BEYOND HEAD KNOWLEDGE AND TRADITIONS.
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“Prayer is ‘the breathing of a soul inflamed for God, and inflamed for humanity.’” E.M. Bounds.
True prayer must be from the heart. It is not just the words or phrases a person repeats as a mere routine or formality. It involves coming before God, as our Father, with our hearts our entire beings in an attitude of humble submission. God requires our whole heart! In His dealings with the children of Israel, He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).
Jesus exposed the hypocrisy and religious tradition of those who prayed in the synagogues and street corners to be seen of men. He called the Pharisees hypocrites. He said: …Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” (Matthew 15:7-9 NASB).
We must be careful not to become bound by religion or the traditions taught by men. There are many Christians sitting in our churches who pray on a regular basis. The words coming out of their mouths are what they have learned, but the words are empty and hollow because they are coming from their heads and not from their hearts.
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To go beyond ordinary prayer, we cannot be content with head knowledge or religious tradition. The cry of our hearts must be, “Lord Jesus, break through the dead, dry tradition and formalism and teach us how to pray as You prayed!” The Pharisees were committed to and preoccupied with strict adherence to the Law and the oral tradition, with its rules for interpreting the Law, purification rites, and man-made laws handed down by their fathers.
With minute attention to detail they observed all the sacred times laid down by God. They gave tithes of all they possessed and fasted twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. They were doing all the right things, but they were so bound by tradition that they did not really know God and could not receive the truths Christ spoke to them.
Their understanding of God was primarily as the Law-giver and their preoccupation with fulfilling His commands exactly became an end in itself. When they went to the Temple to pray, their prayers were formal and legalistic. And they went there to be seen and heard of men, not to meet with God.
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Public prayers were offered daily in the synagogue. These prayers included the Shema, which consisted of three passages from the Old Testament: Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy
11:13-21; and Numbers 15:37-41. The Shema was repeated both morning and evening with benedictions. In addition, the Tephillah, or Eighteen Benedictions, was repeated three times a day. Much of this was incorporated into the Hebrew Prayer Book that is still used in Jewish synagogues today.
In sharp contrast to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, Jesus broke through the rigid, formal tradition of man’s religious forms, rituals, and concepts of prayer and established it upon a relationship with the Father! He taught the people the importance of shutting themselves away in a secret place to pray.
Jesus said:
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:5-6 NIV).
- Dr. Morris Cerullo ( How To Pray )
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William James Roop
