Title Transparency determines the direction of prayer
Transparency determines the direction of prayer
March 6, 2010 (Sat) Tel Aviv Joppa Church
Matthew 6:5-8
Since last week, we have been sharing grace through the words of Chapter 6 of the Sermon on the Mount. In verses 1-18, Jesus teaches about three things: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. I mentioned that these three are the most basic religious practices in the Jewish life of piety, and are considered important and practiced even today.
Here, we must remember once again that Jesus did not criticize or forbid a godly life such as almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. The basic thing is that we, too, should strive for a godly life such as giving, praying, and fasting. What Jesus rebuked was the mindset and attitude of those who lead such godly lives.
And one more thing to remember is that just because Jesus rebuked them, all the Jews at that time were not hypocrites with this wrong attitude. As Jesus rebuked, there were some people who had such an erroneous purpose and showed a hypocritical attitude.
In fact, even the rabbis of many Jewish schools of the time emphasized the right attitude and attitude in giving, praying and fasting. What Jesus rebuked was that we should not imitate some people who practice hypocrisy with false intentions and attitudes, but at the same time, teach us clearly what is the true spirit and attitude of godly life such as almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. It's for.
In light of the words of Jesus, I think the most important thing in a godly life is transparency. This transparency is very important not only for almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, but also for all of our religious lives and lives. It is very important in all areas of our lives, from our personality, to our lives, to our beliefs and to our relationships.
What Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount is nothing else. This is transparency. It means being transparent before God. Be transparent in front of people. And be transparent about yourself.
It's not transparent, it means there's something hidden between God and me. When it comes to saying that there is something veiled between God and me, this can have very serious consequences. If it is hidden, it cannot be seen and cannot be realized. In that case, even though you say you believe in God, you can go in a completely different direction from the will of God.
When you say that you are not transparent in your relationships with people, it means that you are covering yourself up with something in front of people. It means that you pretend to be someone other than your real self and act as if it were you. It means doing it with a non-transparent intention or purpose. That is hypocrisy and eating out. In this case, you are not transparent about yourself. You will end up deceiving yourself.
Today, we will see the Word about prayer, and the important thing in prayer is transparency. In prayer, Jewish rabbis called 'cabana (