How to pray, how NOT to pray

You must have read much already on how to pray, but I think you may also benefit from not so common a topic as how notto pray. It would seem absurd to define something lie how to pray by making use of what it is not. I am of that same opinion, and I find it annoying when I listen to people enumerating about all the things that something they are trying to describe is not. Why waste time and energy emphasizing what is not part of the matter in question just to make the point of what it really is? In the act of praying, nevertheless, it is paramount to specify some ground rules that must never be broken when engaging in conversation with God. These rules could be understood in an analogy with a safety manual, with lots of instructions about the dos and donts. In the bible there are several examples of prayer whose purpose was not one we should pursue when we come before God, for our own sake. Nobody would be so foolish to approach a mountain flaming with brimstone, spitting fire and trembling like a leaf to speak lightly and disrespectfully to the God who is the source of all the commotion. At least the Israelites didnt do it, although it was no wonder, for anyone who dared would be killed instantly. They were, sadly, irresponsible enough to despise this same God some days later by praying foolishly to a golden calf, tired of waiting for Moses to come down from the very presence of God. A little forward in this story, we find the prophet Balaam, who comes to God in prayer not one but many times, always expecting God to answer the petition instigated by Balak, king of Moab, a people abominable to God. Balaam is so shameless that he asks God to break His promises made to Abraham, Jacob, Moses and Joshua, indeed invalidating His pact with the Israelites and being left as a powerless puppet in the hands of men, so that Balaam can have his coveted reward. No wonder the mule had to teach him some wisdom and rebuke the folly of the prophet.

How to pray: Knowing what not to pray

Jeremiah, a real prophet of God, also had to face the false prophets who were more preoccupied with their well being than with the future of Israel. It was a time of judgement what Jerusalem was about to suffer as a result of sin and infidelity towards God. Yet Gods mercy and love was trying to turn the people from their wicked ways, with no success. Jeremiah is the

only prophet who speaks truth to a people who refuses to listen for the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut. Hananiah was one of these liars who pretended to be a spokesman in Gods name, but who was intent only in pleasing the king Zedekiah and encourage him in his rebellion against God. A few verses down we see what happened to Hananiah: the Lord has said, See, I will send you away from off the face of the earth: this year death will overtake you, because you have said words against the Lord. So death came to Hananiah the prophet the same year, in the seventh month. These three examples should make us think well before we come to God with anything but a sincere heart. God is warning us not to follow their ways: And all these things happened to them as examples; and it is written for our warning on whom the ends of the world have come.

How to pray, then?

The message is clear. God is pleased with us praying to Him, but there are certainly ways to do it properly. He has taken great pains in showing us how to pray, and He has also shown us what happens to those who defy Him and proudly remain obstinate in their own ways even after being fully aware of God telling them that is not how to pray.