Prioritizing Posture Instead of Performance
Many of us are familiar with “The Lord’s Prayer” found in Matthew 6:9-13. Yet, I bet few of us are familiar with the verses around those familiar and often recited words. You see, Scripture is meant to be read in context with the verses around it, the book it is written within, and the larger context of the story of Scripture. We often read verses like these and forget to look at the context in which they are written.
This passage is often taught as a way to pray, which is appropriate, but that is not all that it is meant to teach us. The traditional teaching goes something like this: We acknowledge God as our Father and therefore our identity as his children. We invite his kingdom and will to be done on earth above our own. We ask for provision, forgiveness, and protection. (Don’t forget that little part where we are supposed to forgive too!) This is a great way to structure our prayers, it hits all the vital points, but it can lead us to hyperfocus on what we pray rather than how we pray.
In the preceding text, Jesus teaches us the posture of prayer before he teaches us the practical application. You see, there was a problem occurring in their time where people would pray publicly in a way that often drew attention to them within and outside the walls of the church. They were eloquent and lengthy, and they totally missed the point. Unfortunately, this problem persists today; there are people who will dress like, talk like, and even act like a Christian in public. They know how to go to church, how to say the right things, and how to leverage their religion to gain power and popularity. - This is not the way of Jesus.
If we are honest, there are probably more of us than we like to think who play the church game on Sunday and go back to our lives for the other six. Want to change that? Stop focusing on the “what” and start focusing on the “how”. Jesus is after a posture, not perfection or even a popular perception. He wants you to come humbly and spend time conversing with him. Isn’t that the foundation of any healthy and growing relationship? Let’s be people who live and pray with the right posture, with humility and authenticity, and may that be the faith we model that others experience through us.
Grace and Peace,
Austin
*Published on 3/27 in The Osage County Herald-Chronicle