WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO PRAY

Prayer, at the time of Christ, assumed a relevant position in the piety of the Jewish people. However, it was conceived in a religious model dominated by an excessive concern with the Law. They did not yet know justification by faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16). In fact, "the Law is holy," as the Apostle Paul said (Romans 7:12), and so we should try to live it. But this same biblical author stated that "a person is not justified by the works of the law" (Galatians 2:16). The Law points to man's sinful condition (Romans 7:7) and therefore, man cannot obey it (Romans 7:14-23). 

The objective result of this religious conception is a life of appearances, due to the human difficulties in fulfilling the divine commandments. This posture of apparent piety was directly reflected in prayer. There was much hypocrisy in praying with the purpose of showing others false devotion, as Jesus himself pointed out (Matthew 6.5). It is clear, therefore, that the Jews, at the time of Christ, did not know how to pray. 

Similarly, today, prayer presents certain deviations and shows that, as Jews of Christ's time, we do not know how to pray. We are far from the model and meaning of prayer that Jesus taught. Just like the Jews of the first century, we have a wrong view of God. We see the LORD, but in a blurry way because of the vision we have of ourselves. There is not, however, that concern to flaunt a false spirituality. The problem today is something else: we have become the center of prayer. 

Most of us Christians, due to the lifestyle of Western society, live a life focused on the pursuit of self-fulfillment. Because of this, we become the center of all things, and we carry this posture into our spiritual life. Thus, we go to prayer not to talk to God, but to have our needs and desires, often materialistic, met. It is common for us to pray more in search of possessions, fame and power than for other reasons. All our devotional praxis occurs around our goals because we, and not God, are in the foreground of our prayer life. 

This attitude of putting ourselves in first perspective has led us astray from the meaning of prayer, taught by Jesus to his disciples. We see God as the Creator, but we deceive ourselves into thinking that He is at our disposal to satisfy whatever we desire in our earthly life. Our relationship with Him is based more on interest than on love for His person. This is because we see prayer as a mechanism that can get us out of an unwanted situation and into one of comfort. 

Most of the time we go to God only to ask; almost never to thank, exalt or worship. We go to prayer to ask, and not to talk to God or to spend time in His presence. This is because the focus of our attention is on ourselves and not on God. Our spiritual life is more centered on ourselves than on Him. Our prayers often spring from our areas of interest and not from our love for God or the call to worship him for his glory. 

(Text written based on our book, published on amazon.com.br, LORD TEACH US TO PRAY - AN ESSAY ON THE CENTRALITY OF GOD IN PRAYER). 

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

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