one of the biggest obstacles to prayer…

we are looking at the LORD’s prayer here on the porch and some questions people have with prayer.  one of them is who we pray to?  and JESUS begins this prayer with the words, matthew 6.9 (niv), our FATHER.

now this is a very important part of the prayer, and i’ll tell you why.

some people find that their mind wanders sometimes during prayer.  psychologists talk about a condition that they call mindlessness.  you ever experience mindlessness?  for some of us, that’s a problem that we have from time to time.  for some of us, it’s a way of life.  we’re physically present, but our minds are floating off somewhere on auto pilot. 

i’ll give you an example of this. i’ll ask you a question, and you answer out loud just real quick right away.  the tree that grows from an acorn is called an? oak.  the dark vapor that rises from fire is called? smoke.  the sound a frog makes is called a? croak.  the white of an egg is called the?  white of an egg.  if you said, “yolk” that’s mindlessness, and it affects all of us from time to time.  mindlessness is, in fact, one of the biggest obstacles to prayer.

JESUS says, “when you pray, don’t keep on babbling like pagans who offer mindless prayers”  –vain repetition, just rattling them off.

you see, even for CHRISTians prayer can sometimes deteriorate into just worrying out loud or silently.  you ever have that happen?  i do sometimes.  i start praying and pretty soon i’m just thinking to myself, and then i’m just worrying.  it becomes a silent monologue and not a conversation.

again, we’re looking at kind of introductory stuff. at the very beginning i need to stop a hurried mind and focus on the fact that i really am speaking to someone.  i really am.

JESUS says, “begin by saying, our FATHER.”

now this is the most unique opening line in the history of prayer – our FATHER.

just a thought from the front porch…