Sincerity in Prayer
Psalm 63:1-7
This is the first Sunday of
Lent. I am a person who does not believe that we should change our lifestyle
during this season. We are Christian, and we should live as Christians in all
seasons. But I keep hearing that people are making commitments to abstain from
different kinds of food, meat, chocolate, coffee ...
anything that is valuable for them. Well, that is good; it is discipline. In
the Bible, fasting is part of prayer life. Fasting is a good discipline which
reminds us of how Christ went through suffering. Whenever we crave for the
thing from which we are abstaining, we will be reminded of Christ and his painful
journey to
Lent is a time of confession
and repentance. This morning, we witnessed Tanya’s baptism. She came on her
knees in the presence of God, and she declared that she dedicates her life to
God through Jesus Christ. This is repentance. She left behind her old life and
took the new life. Therefore, as a church, we celebrate with her the new life
that Jesus gave to her and to her son Lukas, and her family.
Lent is not time to show off. In fact, the Bible says that
we should make it known to everyone that we are fasting. It is a private matter
between us and God. But we need to learn
to pray. We need to learn to pray in
humility and sincerity. The Pharisee and the tax collector were praying. The Pharisee
was showing off. What kind of prayer is that? He was reminding God about all
the “good works” he had done. He was also comparing himself with others.
Brothers and sisters, he was praying. But what kind of a prayer was that?
One of the best ways to learn
how to pray is the Lord’s Prayer. This year the FaithBuilders
group is studying this wonderful prayer through a book entitled, “Fifty seven words
which changed the world.” The disciples did not know how to pray and asked Jesus
to teach them. He did. He taught them what we call today “the Lord’s Prayer.”
We can also find prayers in
the book of Psalms. David prayed to God. And if one reads the Psalms, one can
find that these prayers are genuine; they are sincere. They are from David’s
heart. No masks, no hypocrisy. Therefore, how can we have a life of prayer
which is sincere?
Let me give you an illustration:
Joe the butcher was closing
the store one Saturday night when his best customer Mrs. Brown came in and
asked for a nice roasting chicken. Joe put the last one he had on the scales.
“It’s 2 pounds 4 ounces – that will be $1.35.”
That’s too small,” She
answered, “do you have a larger one?”
He went to the cooler and
returned with the same chicken. Weighing it, he said, “Just 3 pounds. That will
be $ 1.80.” Still not satisfied, his customer said, “I think I’ll take them
both.” Joe was speechless.
My first point is if we are approaching God in
dishonest ways, even though we are “praying”, we are mocking God.
The peanuts cartoons
character Lucy once said, “To be perfectly honest, I sometimes find it
difficult to be perfectly honest.”
It is difficult to be honest.
It is difficult to be transparent. I understand if humans are not transparent
to each other. But I can not understand how we can escape from God. How can we
mock God, by pretending we are someone else? Do you think we can deceive God?
We read in Psalm 63:1
“O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.”
This is a good example of a prayer
of longing to God, seeking God in a dry land that there is no water and food.
David is “hungry” for God. I love this image. Do you remember any time of your
life when you were extremely hungry or thirsty?
Can you seek God in your
prayer like that, hungry and thirsty?
We will continue in the English
sermon.