Prayer that Aims for God

  • 2015.09.19 10:31


“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like 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.”(Matthew 6:7-8) Who are pagans? They are those who do not believe in God and say, “If God exists, please bless me!” In this way, if a person does not believe in God and also does not aim for God while praying, they babble. Someone says if someone repeats same words then they babble, but it is wrong. If we look at the Gospel of Luke chapter 18, a widow goes to an unjust judge and repeats same plea, but she manages to be answered.

 

"In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" (Luke 18:2-5)

 

I also sometimes continuously pray for one thing until my prayer is answered. It is not a babbling prayer. People babble when they do not target at God like pagans and set God according to their desires and pray ‘if there really is a God, give me an answer.’ They shout without faith or direction, regardless of God’s promises.
 
Your prayer should aim for our living God. You should pray to God personally who will answer. We have the right for our prayers to be answered if we have faith. God promised before we ask, so we have the right. It is faith when you know this and pray. You should have this right of faith and know why God should give you an answer and why your prayer should be answered. Also, you should head for God and pray personally.


 

Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon

Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #449 (August 29 2015)