Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him. Matthew 6:8
We drew names at the office one year, so each of us would give someone else in the office a small Christmas present. Some of my fellow workers were giving out little hints as to what they would like to receive. The producer asked me what I would like to get, and I replied that I was really looking forward to getting a nice surprise. I like surprises, as long as they are good surprises. Most of us do. For example, surprise parties are always fun. But as enjoyable as surprises can be, they are a treat that our Heavenly Father has never experienced. He has not, and cannot ever be, surprised, not even by the things we come up with in our prayers.
The purpose of our prayers is never to provide God with information. What can we tell God that He does not already know? The One Who knows the intimate details of all our tomorrows and has an accurate count of the molecules in every cell of our bodies most surely knows what is upon our hearts when we approach Him in prayer. The way we pray during some of our prayer meetings is in sharp contrast to the instruction in today’s text. We pack our prayers so full of information that it sounds like we are letting God in on the details. Maybe it’s not God we are praying to when we do that.
Earlier in the chapter, Jesus speaks of the hypocrites who made a great show of standing to pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. Those Pharisees were not really praying to God; they were praying to their audience. Is that what we do when we pray? It’s nice to hear an Amen when we pray, from those who agree with the prayer. But it should never be the goal of the prayer to receive the greatest chorus of Amens. Our intent should be to entreat God, not to impress the saints.
The previous verse speaks of the heathen using vain repetitions in the hope that God will hear their much speaking. But God is more interested in our hearts than in our words. He desires us to ask His blessing on Gospel meetings, not so that we can inform Him of the details of the meetings, but because we have a love for lost souls. He desires us to ask for His guidance and protection for our Assembly because of our love for the place where He has placed His name. He desires us to ask for healing and comfort for suffering saints, not so that He can find our who they are and what their problems are, but because of our compassion and love for them. He desires that our prayers would acknowledge our need for His power and blessing.
In our prayers, God is not looking for information; He is looking for our earnest entreaty for His divine aid. -Jim MacIntosh