Never Forsaken: All Glory and Honor and Power

 

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”  Exodus 19:5-6

 I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, the Creator of heaven and earth. I have the privilege of speaking with Him from my home. I do not have to go to a special place. I do not have to be of a special genetic lineage. No, I have His Holy Spirit inside of me, and I may speak to Him as I’m making breakfast, as I’m folding laundry, as I’m sitting, quietly before Him. I can pray to God from inside an MRI machine, or on the road while we’re driving. But, does familiarity breed contempt? Am I too familiar with God?

 I wonder this at times. I wonder if I should be kneeling when I pray like they do in the movies or in picture books, but Jesus didn’t always kneel when He prayed. Yes, He did sometimes, and it is certainly an appropriate posture of prayer, but it isn’t a requirement. So, what are the requirements for prayer?

 In Matthew 6, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches the people about prayer. He points out that they should not bring glory or honor to themselves through prayer by praying publicly on the street corner, but that they should do so in private. This isn’t because it is secret or shameful, and it’s not that we are banned from praying together in public, it’s more a posture of the heart. If you are getting up and praying in front of people in order to sound smart or important, that’s about you, not about God. But if your pastor is praying for the congregation from the front of the church, that doesn’t mean he’s doing something wrong as long as he’s praying with humility and not seeking honor for himself through it. I think these things can easily be taken wrong and skewed in many directions. The thing is, with God, it’s all about the heart.

 When Jesus was talking with the woman at the well in John 4, she asked Him where people were to worship God. The Jews worshipped in Jerusalem, the Samaritans on a special mountain, but Jesus told her, “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21,23-24) He explained to her that it is not about where you worship so much as how you worship. God cares about what’s going on inside you, not what other people can see.

 And that, I guess, is what I’m wondering about this morning – my heart. Is my heart positioned in such a way that I am truly appreciating the gift and privilege it is to come before the God of the universe and lift up my concerns and questions? Do I pause and consider my place before Him, or just start blabbering on, thinking only of myself and my needs and concerns? Let’s be honest, there’s probably times when I approach God correctly and reverently, and times where I don’t.

 Does God care? I think He does. He makes a pretty big deal here in Exodus 19 of impressing upon the people His holiness and their need to consecrate themselves before Him and not take His presence for granted. But, again, I think that He sees our hearts. He knows where we’re coming from. He understands if something is intentional or accidental. He doesn’t want to be separate from us, He calls Himself our Father and Jesus our Brother. He could have said that we have to pray in a certain place or from a certain posture or with specific words, but He didn’t. Jesus prayed in lots of different places, alone and with a group, kneeling and standing. He taught His disciples how to pray from the heart, recognizing God’s holiness and respecting His ultimate authority, but honestly conveying our concerns and needs and trusting them to Him.

Here’s the Thing: God wants us to have a relationship with Him, but a right one. He wants us to recognize our place before Him and give Him the glory and honor He is due. When we pray, we ought to start out as Jesus did, “Our Father in Heaven, Holy is Your Name. Your Kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-13). Not these exact words, not by rote, but the spirit of it, recognizing God’s holiness and posturing ourselves internally in a way that honors Him.