About Prayer!

For Wednesday, January 25, 2023:

Matthew 6:7-8 NLT, Jesus speaking: “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”

Our Father doesn’t want us wasting our time or his time. From this scripture, I surmise that God appreciates people who are direct and get right to the point. Repeating something over and over doesn’t make a prayer better. The Bible calls that “vain repetitions.” Inserting the word “just” 16 times doesn’t make the prayer better. Jesus is teaching that longer prayer isn’t better prayer. He advises less verbiage and more heart. Present your case to the Lord and move on.

Prayer doesn’t inform God. You can’t tell the Lord something and expect him to respond, “Gee, I never thought of that!” In fact, he already knows. We pray because we have a relationship with Our Father, and like any father, he wants to hear from his children.

Jesus doesn’t specifically mention it, but I believe the same principle applies to preaching. Longer isn’t better. The words, “In conclusion…” should only be in a sermon once! A friend told me about an elderly lady in church who suffered from dementia. She thought she was whispering: “When’s that windbag gonna knock it off so we can get out of here?” Everyone laughed! It’s funny because we’ve all been there!

God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Pray to the Lord!

For Tuesday, January 23, 2023:

Matthew 6:5 NLT, Jesus speaking: “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.”

Picture this in your mind’s eye: Someone walking along, when suddenly they stop at the corner and shout out, “Praise God!” They then look around to assess the size or their audience, the more the better! Jesus’ point is that they’re not really praying or praising. It seems they’re just putting on a show for others to see!

Hypocrite is the perfect word to describe the situation. In Greek, it also describes an actor, someone pretending to be something that they are not. Jesus tells us to go to our room, our special place, shut the door and have a private conversation with our Father in heaven. Those who pray this way will be rewarded by God. Since he sees everything, he doesn’t need you to create a scene on the street!

In a private room we can impress no one except God!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Heavenly Reward!

January 23, 2023 Monday Message:

Matthew 6:1 NLT, Jesus speaking: “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.”

It’s always good to help others, but this teaching from Jesus comes down to motivation. If you’re doing a charitable thing, some benevolent act, only to attach your name to the project, that’s the wrong motivation behind it. For example, if you supported a hospital so that they’d name the new building after your family, that’s wrong. We all appreciate a pat on the back once in a while, but receiving accolades shouldn’t be our goal.

We should all love our neighbors because that’s what Jesus said to do. We need to be kind and helpful because it’s the right thing to do. Our goal should be to be helpful, not to let others know what a good person we are! Our reward for doing the right thing for the right reason will come from our Father in heaven. On earth he has given us hope, and there’s a lot more to come in heaven!

God will bestow us with something infinitely better than an earthly reward!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship