Jump Start # 1217

Matthew 6:9 “Pray, then in this way: ‘Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.”

  The other day I was sitting in the dentist chair. He had the radio on and a song came on, “How to you talk to an angel?” The song is about a guy trying to talk to a girl. But as that song was playing, I got to thinking. Just how do you talk to an angel? A real angel.

Abraham talked to angels but he didn’t know who they were. Joseph saw angels in a dream. The women gathered at Jesus’ tomb talked to an angel. An angel appeared to Cornelius in a vision. He talked to that angel. It was an angel that poked Peter and woke him up when he was in prison. The angel led him out safely. An angel appeared to Paul on his long and dangerous journey to Rome. When John saw an angel in Revelation, he bowed down but was told to stand up.

How do you talk to an angel? That’s a neat thought to me. Typically, we greet someone with a, “Hi, how are you?” or, “What’s up?” I don’t think that would suffice for angel talk. I’d want to know what all Mr. angel has been up to and where he has been. I’d have a lot of curious questions for him, but most wouldn’t probably wouldn’t be answered.

In our Bibles people only talked to angels when they were approached by angels. No one prayed to angels. No one worshipped angels. No one thanked an angel in the newspaper for making their child well. No one buried a statue of an angel or had an angel keepsake for good luck. We can get a bit goofy when it comes to angels. Our images of angels would be crushed if we really looked intently in the Bible. They were not described as chubby kids with wings. They weren’t females. Either they looked like men or they had a glorious radiance about them. And sometimes angels were sent on violent missions to kill people.

But all of this leads to a greater thought and a more practical idea, if we wonder how do we talk to an angel, how do we talk to God? This is where our verse comes in. Jesus shows us. God can be talked to. Angels, I doubt it. God wants us to talk to Him. He invites our conversation and wants us to talk to Him often. We call this “Prayer.”

Jesus, from our passage, said, “Pray this way…” This is how you do it. This comes from one who knows. Jesus prayed often. He prayed all night long. He prayed and prayed. While the disciples were crossing the sea, Jesus was praying. While they were sleeping, Jesus was praying. Even on the cross, Jesus prayed. So, Jesus knew prayer. It was as much a part of Him as anything.

Right before our verse today, Jesus pointed out two negatives about prayer. Some folks do not pray right. Jesus knew that. He used their wrong prayers as an illustration of what not to do. The hypocrites pray. That thought alone is very interesting. But they do. They pray, Jesus noticed, in public places. They love to have people notice. The answer to this, the right way according to Jesus, was to go into your closet and pray. No one there but you and God. No one to hear you but you and God. No one to impress, because you’re not going to impress God. Maybe when eating alone, I ought to just say a prayer and not bow my head. I guess it’s ok to bow, but do I do it so others see that I am praying? That’s getting into the hypocrite prayers. I could just say a prayer and no one knows but me and God.

Jesus used another negative. The hypocrites were one wrong way. The Gentiles were the other. We’d typically think that the Gentiles would be praying to the wrong god, some pagan idol. Not all. Cornelius was a Gentile and he prayed to God. The Gentiles that Jesus noticed used many words. Many words means long. Many words in a sermon means a long sermon. Many words in a book means a long book. Many words in a prayer means a long prayer. Many words are not necessarily wrong. If Jesus prayed all night long, He must have used many words. These Gentiles thought the volume of words impressed God. The more words, the better the prayer. There are times for many words because there are many things upon your heart. But a long prayer isn’t better than a short prayer—the same as a long sermon isn’t better than a short sermon, or a long book isn’t better than a short book. It’s the content –what is said that matters.

Having pointed out what not to do in prayer, Jesus then said, “Pray this way.” What follows is a short prayer. Simple words. It touches upon our physical needs and our spiritual needs. It honors God and keeps before us His will and His plan.

How do you talk to God? That’s a greater thought than ‘how do you talk to an angel?’ God knows what you need before you ask Him. Yet, He wants you to ask. God knows what you have done before you confess to Him. Yet, He wants you to confess. God knows your heart. God knows your troubles. God knows you. Don’t forget, He made you.

Why then, does He invite us to talk to Him? He already knows. Prayer isn’t a fact finding mission by God. You aren’t going to surprise God by anything you say. Pray is how we talk to God. Communication is key to any relationships. Salesmen must keep in contact with customers and buyers. Husbands and wives must talk. Parents talk with their children. Friends talk. Sharing, talking, expressing—that keeps the relationship alive and close. We pray because we need God. Prayer reminds us of this. We pray because God can do things that we cannot. This is why we pray for those who are sick. God can heal. We pray because we love God. We want to follow Him, obey Him and trust Him. Prayer and faith are the huge areas that we demonstrate trust in God.

And guess what? God not only hears, but He answers your prayers. Prayer works. God sends blessings down that answers our prayers. We must remember that “No,” is an answer to prayer. We must also remember that God isn’t working for us. Prayer isn’t rubbing the magical lamp and God appears to grant any selfish wish that we want and then returns back to the bottle until we want something else. That concept of our relationship with God cannot be found in the Bible. Prayer is having God’s will in my life.

How do you talk to an angel? More importantly, how do you talk to God? Have you talked to Him today? He’s there. He’s eager to hear from you. Take a moment and talk to your God. What an amazing opportunity this is.

Roger