Sincere Prayer

Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. Psalm 54:2

Someone told me that it had been so long since they prayed and they had done so much wrong, they wondered if God would hear them. I told them that God hears all who pray to him in sincerity. He hears those who pray in spirit and in truth.

With this in mind, I judged myself. I thought about my many hurried prayers over the years before I jumped into bed because I was cold or tired or just following my nightly ritual. The obligatory prayers before a meal - done more out of habit than faith. I even thought about the rehearsed prayers before an audience or prayers to "move" a congregation.

We must know that these are not prayers. Prayer must be sincere. Prayer must be from the spirit. Prayer must be in truth. We have to go within and without ourselves, so that God is our true focus. All those prayers that I thought I did didn't count because they were false. God can never accept that. When we or others pray to gain the attention or acceptance of man, those prayers are not accepted.

We must pray to The Father in the way that The Son taught us. It must come from the heart. We must sincerely seek The Father! Some of the sincerest prayers have only contained two familiar words that are often called in distress: "God, help!"

Tonight, when I pray, I will pray in sincerity. I know it matters not how long I pray. It matters not, what position I pray in. What matters is that I seek to spend time in prayer with my Father and your Father in heaven!

May the Peace of God rest upon you!