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Reachout Trust 24 Ormond Road Richmond Surrey TW10 6TH England Phone & Fax: 0845 241 2158 E-mail A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, number 4162936. A registered charity number 1087085

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Prayer is an amazing privilege that we can sometimes treat so lightly. It is not like talking to other people, which can be often trivial, but is a direct communication to God (Heb.12:22-24). There is no room for hypocrisy when we pray (v.5) because God knows us before we speak (v.8).

Nevertheless, we do not need to use the most flowery language; in fact we should be using the most practical language possible. Prayer is bringing our requests and petitions to God, with genuine heartfelt words and an expectation of his hearing and answering (Philip.4:6).

Matthew 6:7 goes on to show that prayer does not come from the mind but from the Spirit. Prayer is something that God inspires in the secret place of the heart (v.6) and not simply something that comes from impressive man-made phrases ("many words"). Luke 18:9-14 records the story of the two men in the temple and it illustrates this point clearly. The Pharisee, who it is said trusted in himself and told God how great a man he was, received nothing. On the other hand the poorer man, who knew his true condition and cried from his heart to God, received in abundance.

These verses do not put the emphasis just on the repetition but on the meaningless repetition. Persistence, even using the same words, can be of God, but vain repetition ("babbling" NIV) week after week does not achieve anything. Words that come out of our own proud attitude are not received. God always resists the proud but gives grace and responds to the humble.

Probably the most helpful picture of prayer is a circle. The Lord sits at the top of the circle and begins to express his will and the circle begins to be drawn. We sit at the bottom of the circle and if we are listening for the voice of the Lord and respond we will pray out from God's heart. The circle is then completed and returns fulfilled to God. Daniel is an example of this. He realised the will of God was for the people to go back to their land after the captivity and he knew the time was right. This did not mean that he just sat back and said. 'That is fine. God has said it. He will do it'. He completed the circle by praying three times a day until the thing was done. There will be people in the cults, as well as others, whom God wants to reach and he will remind us of them so we can pray for as long as necessary. Circumstances will be revealed to us and the Lord will show what he wants to do. We need to see the privilege of being involved in such prayer and know the excitement of answers as we co-operate with him and pray the matter to a conclusion.

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