Who are you talking to?
Helping out people who are doing their English exams, one of the questions will ask them to compose a piece of writing, maybe a letter or an article. One of the key questions they answer to assist them in excelling is that question: Who are you talking to? The audience determines the content and the manner in which that content is delivered. If you talk to the audience in the wrong way or with the wrong content it’s unlikely to gain any decent marks.
English exams in that sense is a good reflection of a principle of life in general. If you do not know who you’re talking to, it’s not likely to end well in your conversations.
When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 5:5-8)
Conversing with God, Jesus states clearly, is not something that can be done with babbling and for performance. This is not a competition to see who has the best words and who can render them in the most passionate or pious way. Paul of Tarsus would later say that praying itself was something we needed God’s help with because we often don’t know how to pray.
That in itself is a great leveller. There’s no room for being cocky, arrogant and presumptuous when you start from a place of complete humility that even asks for the help and the mercy to be able to effectively communicate. Therein also is why prayer in the secret life of saints is a matter of the heart. In this kind of humility, we recognise our desire audience is the Father Himself. In that context we are just looking to see how we can be true to Him and allow Him to be true and pure in us – we want clear lines of communication to develop the intimate kind of relationship He to which He calls us.
Jesus teaching us to pray even re-emphasises how the place of matters of the heart shapes our prayers. We are humble before God and we seek mercy as we exercise it, even as we seek Him to provide us for what we need as we pursue His Kingdom being established on earth. All of those expressions are heartfelt yearnings with our Father.
We don’t need an audience to witness that. It doesn’t require spectators to look on and comment on how well we used this scripture or that verse. We keep it simple, we keep it from the heart in looking for His heart and we do so with the understanding that this is how the key relationships develop. It’s from here that we have the platform to respond to what God says because of the investment in the relationship.
An investment that begins and ends with finding out the answer to the question:
Who are you talking to?
(Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 