Loading Content...
Share a Link to this Message
The link has been copied to your clipboard; paste it anywhere you would like to share it.
CloseRyan Sim - May 1, 2013
Wednesday - Change It - Pompous Prayer
Jesus is challenging those who pray in public in order to get ahead, to look religious. He says they got the reward they wanted, immediately. People saw them, were impressed. Done. Problem is, empty reward. What is God's reward for prayer? It's him. A relationship with him. This happens to be what true prayer is about anyway…talking to God…spending time with him. God makes himself, the reward, available to all who will receive him. Closet prayer is like training, shutting out all ulterior motives until we learn to pray for God alone. God is the best spectator for prayer - he sees prayer and motive. Even the worst prayer - God sees the right motive. Even the best prayer - God sees the wrong motive. The word "closet" in this reading is not where someone kept their clothes. It comes from the Greek "tameion" which means storeroom. This suggests there are immediate "treasures" when you pray for God alone. When we pray for God and God alone, we are seeking God, and he is ready and willing to hold up his side of the relationship by giving us what we were seeking. When we pray for others to see, we’re clearly not seeking God but our own benefit, so he gives us that reward we sought, but that's all. If we want applause, he says we can have it. But we're settling for second best. I once got a phone call, informing me that someone was taking Christianity 101 student because he wanted to be baptized in hopes it would helps him immigration case. In the end, I was happy for him to take the course, and would even baptize him if he decided to follow Jesus as his Lord. Those things are highly rewarding in and of themselves! An eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ – nothing is more rewarding. What about the immigration thing? I doubt it would have helped. One might have a case as a persecuted refugee if they were a baptized Christian at home, before coming to Canada. But immigration authorities probably wouldn’t care if he was baptized in Canada last year. If he took my course, and was baptized, all because he wanted to improve his chances at immigration, he would quickly discover it was an empty reward, nowhere near as good as the real reward. We settle for second best sometimes. We pursue rewards in life, on earth, when we could be pursuing rewards in heaven! We can do this with prayer. We say a bunch of things about God, and call it prayer, when we could be talking to God. We say some words we don’t really believe, simply because someone told us we should. Question: Have you ever tried to regularly spend time in prayer alone with God? What did you find easy comfortable, or difficult and uncomfortable about the experience?
Related Topics: Prayer | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio
From Series: "Sermon on the Mount"
More Messages From Ryan Sim...
About the Parenting Children CourseJuly 1, 2012 |
||
About the Parenting Teenagers CourseJuly 1, 2012 |
||
About the Marriage CourseRyan Sim - July 1, 2012 |
||
About the Christianity 101 CourseJuly 1, 2012 |
||
Day 1 - IntroductionAugust 1, 2012 |
||
Day 2 - The Big Story Act 1August 8, 2012 |
||
Day 3 - The Big Story Act 2September 1, 2012 |
||
Day 4 - The Big Story Act 3September 2, 2012 |
||
Day 5 - The Big Story Act 4September 3, 2012 |
||
Day 6 - The Big Story Acts 5 and 6September 4, 2012 |
||
Day 7 - Is there a God?September 5, 2012 |
||
Day 8 - How Does God Reveal Truth?September 6, 2012 |
||
Day 9 - Why The Bible?September 7, 2012 |
||
Day 10 - Faith & ReasonRyan Sim - September 8, 2012 |
||
Day 11 - Who are we?September 9, 2012 |
||
Day 12 - Free WillRyan Sim - September 10, 2012 |
||
Day 13 - A Life Centred on GodRyan Sim - September 11, 2012 |
||
Day 14 - Alienation from GodRyan Sim - September 12, 2012 |
||
Day 15 - The Problem with our World and with UsRyan Sim - September 13, 2012 |
||
Day 16 - Replacing GodRyan Sim - September 14, 2012 |
||
Day 17 - The Consequences - 1 and 2Ryan Sim - September 15, 2012 |
||
Day 18 - The Consequences - 3 and 4Ryan Sim - September 16, 2012 |
||
Day 19 - The Problem of EvilRyan Sim - September 17, 2012 |
||
Day 20 - What God Did About EvilRyan Sim - September 18, 2012 |
||
Introduction to Daily ChallengesNovember 2, 2012 |
||
Monday - New Idea - Poor in SpiritNovember 12, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Poor in SpiritNovember 13, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change - Poor in SpiritNovember 14, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - Poor in SpiritNovember 15, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Poor in SpiritNovember 16, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - Those who MournNovember 19, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Those Who MournNovember 20, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change - Those Who MournNovember 21, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act - Those Who MournNovember 22, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Those Who MournNovember 23, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - MeekNovember 26, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - MeekNovember 27, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change - MeekNovember 28, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act - MeekNovember 29, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - MeekNovember 30, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - Poor in SpiritDecember 3, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - RighteousnessDecember 4, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - RighteousnessDecember 5, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - RighteousnessDecember 6, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - RighteousnessDecember 7, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - MercifulDecember 10, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - MercifulDecember 11, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - MercifulDecember 12, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - MercifulDecember 13, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - MercifulDecember 14, 2012 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - Pure in HeartDecember 17, 2012 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Pure in HeartDecember 18, 2012 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - Pure in HeartDecember 19, 2012 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - Pure in HeartDecember 20, 2012 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Pure in HeartDecember 21, 2012 |
||
Christmas EveDecember 24, 2012 |
||
Christmas DayDecember 25, 2012 |
||
Boxing DayDecember 26, 2012 |
||
Thursday - December 27December 27, 2012 |
||
Friday - December 28December 28, 2012 |
||
New Years Eve - GrowthDecember 31, 2012 |
||
New Years Day - GroupsJanuary 1, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - January 2 - GraceJanuary 2, 2013 |
||
Thursday - January 3 - GenerosityJanuary 3, 2013 |
||
Friday - January 4 - GodJanuary 4, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - PeacemakersJanuary 7, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - PeacemakersJanuary 8, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - PeacemakersJanuary 9, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act - PeacemakersJanuary 10, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - PeacemakersJanuary 11, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - PersecutedJanuary 14, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - PersecutedJanuary 15, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change - PersecutionJanuary 16, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act - PersecutedJanuary 17, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - PersecutedJanuary 18, 2013 |
||
Monday - New Idea - Living BackwardsJanuary 21, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - Living BackwardsJanuary 22, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change - Living BackwardsJanuary 23, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act on It - Living BackwardsJanuary 24, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - Living BackwardsJanuary 25, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - SaltJanuary 28, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - SaltJanuary 29, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - SaltJanuary 30, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - SaltJanuary 31, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - SaltFebruary 1, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - LightFebruary 4, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - LightFebruary 5, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - LightFebruary 6, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - LightFebruary 7, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - LightFebruary 8, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - LawFebruary 11, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - LawFebruary 12, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - LawFebruary 13, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - LawFebruary 14, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - LawFebruary 15, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - AngerFebruary 18, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - AngerFebruary 19, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - AngerFebruary 20, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - AngerFebruary 21, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - AngerFebruary 22, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - The LookFebruary 25, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - The LookFebruary 26, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Study It - The LookFebruary 27, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - The LookFebruary 28, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - The LookMarch 1, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - TruthMarch 4, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - TruthMarch 5, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - TruthMarch 6, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - TruthMarch 7, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - TruthMarch 8, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - RetaliationMarch 11, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - RetaliationMarch 12, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change It - RetaliationMarch 13, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - RetaliationMarch 14, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - RetaliationMarch 15, 2013 |
||
Monday - A New Idea - NeighboursApril 8, 2013 |
||
Tuesday - Study It - NeighboursApril 9, 2013 |
||
Wednesday - Change - NeighboursApril 10, 2013 |
||
Thursday - Act On It - NeighboursApril 11, 2013 |
||
Friday - Reflect - NeighboursApril 12, 2013 |
||