“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6: 5-8)
“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,[a] and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,[b] but rescue us from the evil one.
“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (Injil, John 6:37)
Those are the words of Jesus Himself. All we have to do is believe, and Allah does the rest.
The best way to know Allah on a personal level is to study the life of Isa Al Masih and identify all of the ways He is both Jesus the human and Jesus the One with God.
To understand the life of Isa Al Masih, please refer to the Desire of Ages in the “Resources” tab.
Prayer is not just a time to ask for what we want, and praying when we want something should not be the only time we pray .We are told by Isa Al Masih, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ” (Matthew 6:33)
Often times, we pray for things in our lives, be it a new job, a spouse, healing, financial help, maybe even a new puppy. Whatever the reason, seeking Allah because we want something is not the sole reason to go to Him. We go to Him first, simply seeking Him, His presence, His guidance, and everything will be added to us.
Allah knows our hearts, He knows our circumstances, He knows when we have done wrong even if we don’t repent. But it is through developing a relationship with Him that all of the things we desire begin to work out, sometimes not according to how we see them, but how HE sees fit.
A thought to ponder: What if your friends and family only ever came to you to ask something from you. What if that was the only time they took out of their day to speak to you? How would you feel? Now imagine Allah hearing so many requests but so few attempts to build a relationship with Him.
