I’m Glad I Didn’t Ask for Prayer
I play in our church’s praise team about every three weeks. Each Sunday right before the first service, church staff, the band and the production team huddle for final instructions and prayer. Typically, the pastor asks if anyone has a particular prayer need.
The last time I played happened to be the Sunday I was hoping three guys from the gym would show up. I had been meeting with them individually for a couple of months, and I used the fact that I was playing as a “sweetener” to coax them to come. When the pastor asked for requests, I considered bringing up these three guys.
However, I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to back off. Why would I really be asking for prayer? Was it primarily so these guys would come and learn more about God. or was it more to impress the pastor and everyone else? How often does someone bring a new person to church? And here I was, possibly getting three new guys through the door on the same day! How cool is that? That should certainly earn me the “Spiritual Hero of the Week” award.
Thankfully, I kept my mouth shut and just continued praying by myself.
A primary theme in the Sermon on the Mount is that your attitude matters more than your actions. Even if you are doing good things, if your heart is wrong, you are not pleasing to God. Jesus says that anger comes from the same place in your heart as murder does. The same is true for lust and adultery. So even if you’re not a murderer or an adulterer, you are still sinning if your heart harbors the same underlying evil that could blossom into murder or adultery.
He goes on to warn against making a public show of prayer:
When you pray, you mustn’t be like the play-actors. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that people will notice them. I’m telling you the truth: they have received their reward in full. No: when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your father who is there in secret. And your father who sees in secret, will repay you (Matthew 6:5-6)
In the case of praying for the gym guys, my request would have come dangerously close to “standing on the street corners” to be noticed. Since there was too much chance for self-aggrandizement in asking for prayers for the gym guys during the pre-service gathering, I realized I was better off praying silently instead of showboating. And I’m glad I did.
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“When you practice your piety, mind you don’t do it with an eye on the audience. Otherwise, you won’t have any reward from your father in heaven”
Matthew 6:1 – The New Testament for Everyone
How often do you have to check your motives when doing good deeds? How prone are you to seek the spotlight when doing God’s work?
What are some steps you can take to counteract this tendency?