When People Pray to God . . .

When People Pray to God . . .

at meetings in different countries, there is often very little real prayer. It is mostly a case of lecturing God and each other by virtually rattling off a whole lot of what you know or a whole lot of religious phrases. It is neither prayer nor worship; it is almost a kind of lecture!

God is certainly not impressed by it, even if the person lecturing is fairly capable! This falls under the category of empty talk, and ass it is written in Job 35:13, “surely God will not listen to empty talk . . . .”

The prerequisite for prayer is hunger, thirst, and need. It always proceeds from the heart and reaches God’s heart.

If a person is really praying, then you hear (for example): “Give me, fill me, cleanse me, help me.” “Do this or that.” This is totally different from pontificating or giving a lecture or telling God a whole lot of what He already knows.

This is in the same class as reading prayers, or reciting a certain prayer before mealtime.

It quite simply quenches the Spirit and is covered by the expression, “death in the pot.”

Lecturers will make both God and the church happy by putting a stop to this wretched, spirit-quenching, bad habit!

May God give everyone grace to view this as He Himself views and feels it, and do his best to change it in his own life and in the assemblies. Amen.