I have to share a brief praise report. Saturday at 6:00 am, we were able to meet at a restaurant again for breakfast and fellowship for the first time in more than three months. Even more of a blessing, my friends made sure I got to the barber shop after breakfast. I feel like a new man.
A question came up for discussion. Should we only pray once with full faith that God will answer, or should we repeatedly pray for what is burdening our heart? There seems to be scripture to support both positions. One evangelist has been heard by my friends to preach both sides at different times with equal authority. We all know that there are no contradictions in scripture, so we discussed the different positions for an answer.
In the King James Version of Matthew 6:7, Jesus teaches us not to pray with “vain repetition as the heathens”. The NLT reads, “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.” I have always taken that to mean the use of a mantra. A word or phrase with supposed magical power when repeated over and over. Along with John 3:16 and the 23rd Psalm, the Lord’s Prayer is one of the most memorized passages of scripture. I believe we could say that prayer every day until it becomes a mindless recitation or mantra and that would not be pleasing to God. He wants us to pray from our heart in spirit and in truth. What we call the Lord’s Prayer is an example or template Jesus gave his disciples of what should be included in our prayers. We need to approach our Heavenly Father with the praise, honor and glory He deserves. No flattering words, just sincere love and adoration. We need to ask for God’s will in our life. We need to remind ourselves to share God’s mercy and blessings to us with others. We should pray for our needs and the needs of others. We need to ask for protection from temptation and evil; concluding our prayer with the same praise and adoration with which we began.
What about asking for the same thing more than once? Is that a sign of weak faith? Jesus teaches us in Matthew 7:7 NLT, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Our Heavenly Father never gets tired of us spending time in prayer with Him, sharing what is on our hearts and minds. He never gets tired of us repeating what is on our hearts. As Christians, we are so fortunate to have God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us, to help us when we pray; even when we can’t find words.