Thursday, December 1, 2011
“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8 KJV).
Recent news in Christendom surrounds a controversy resulting from the re-translation of decades-old prayers. Church members complain that the re-wording is “difficult” and “confusing.” One dear congregant voiced his frustration: “I am so tired of being told exactly what I have to say, exactly what I have to pray!”
How our souls mourn that these sincere people are not being taught the truth of God’s Word. Not only are they commanded to work their way to heaven, but they are also led to believe that prayer is nothing more than mindlessly repeating a catchy creed that some man wrote! Like the religionists in today’s Scripture, these poor people “draweth nigh unto [God] with their mouth,” yet “their heart is far from [Him].”
Today, you can purchase a variety of prayer books. Oftentimes, these “Christian” books are the devil’s way of having you follow Israel’s program (steal Israel’s prayers, claim the promises God only gave Israel, et cetera). As long as you focus on what God did in time past, you will be totally ignorant of what He is doing today in the but now, our Dispensation of Grace!
God only speaks to us through His written Word, the Bible. Prayer is our way to speak to God. God can certainly read our hearts and minds, but He wants us to verbalize. He wants us to talk to Him personally, not mindlessly recite vain religious tradition. Talk to Him about your life. We who have trusted in Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we have the assurance that we can come to our heavenly Father at any time in prayer.
Pray as a grace believer, in accordance with what God is doing today, and not praying for things that God did with Israel. For instance, notice what our Apostle Paul prayed for in Ephesians 1:16-23, Philippians 1:9-11, and Colossians 1:9-12. Exact words are not important—the attitude of the heart is. I pray thou discardest thy prayer books!
333 Words of Grace 
Excellent message!
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This is so true and easy to understand. God wants to fellowship with us just like we enjoy being with friends and loved ones, he loves for us to talk to him. Remember, if you have trusted what Jesus did for you at the cross, then He is Your Father too, and He wants You to share your feelings and thoughts with him. He already knows them, but he wants you to spend time with Him, in the WORD of God, and in prayer. Prayer is just simply talking to God.
The ONLY book we need is the one He wrote…
Psalm 12:6-7
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
…the Authorized Version in English to English-speaking peoples, the KJV.