This morning, I read in the Lectio 365 app:
Matthew 6:7-8
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
I have seen prayer become unnecessarily complicated, cluttered with fancy phrases and formality. Strange words can at times feel disconnected from real life. But when I pray, Jesus reminds me, do not heap up empty phrases with many words. Bestselling author Anne Lamott says that all of prayer can be summed up in these three words:
- Help
- Thanks
- Wow.
Holy Spirit, will you simplify my prayers? Teach me to long for you in sincere and ordinary language.
- For my pain, help!
- For your gifts, thanks.
- For your love, wow.
Show me how to pray from my gut without empty words.
Then I read Genesis 24, and noticed this:
Genesis 24:2-3
2 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. 3 I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.
I suspect this guy is Eliezer from Genesis 15:2
Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
If so, see how faithful Eliezer was. He clearly knew Yahweh, praying to Him and referring to Him by name in Genesis 24:12:
He said, “Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
He served Abraham and his family faithfully, knowing that in finding a wife for Isaac, it means that he definitely won't inherit. I am sure Yahweh blessed his faithfulness.
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