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"And he said unto them, when ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth " (Luke 11:2)
When men lead in prayer in such a way as to make the Heavenly Father their peer, are they showing reverence? When they say things like, "Hello, Daddy," are they even addressing Him the way they would want their own children to address them? Respect for the Deity and for authority is the real issue, and we need to seriously consider this if we want our prayers to be heard. We must remember that He is our creator and the creator of the world (Rom 1:18-21)
Would we dare to address the President of the U.S. in such a casual way? Would we even address a local judge or mayor without due respect for their position? Surely, God deserves more respect than mere mortal men. There seems to be little or no respect for God when someone addresses our Heavenly Father as if he were just an ordinary man. Some modern church members may always be at church and always wanting to do something, but their attitudes in prayer can make our blood run cold. Such a person might proceed to carry on a "conversation" with God as if He were an ordinary friend. At times like this, I have wondered if lightning might come down and strike us all. I cannot help remembering why Moses was not allowed to go into the Promised Land after all the years of serving God and His chosen people.
Moses and Aaron had gathered the congregation of the people together and as Moses struck the rock, he declared, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" ( Num 20:10) Not only did Moses disobey God's directions, but he was disrespectful.
"And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel , therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them" ( Num 20:12 ).
What Moses did to dishonor God was far less than what some men do today. When we pray in a casual manner as described above, are we sanctifying God in the eyes of the people? Are we sanctifying Him in our own hearts?
All Scripture is taken from the NKJ Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson,Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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