Thursday, September 21st | The Doctrine of Prayer (pt.2)

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Thursday, September the 21st. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. And you're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text, 252-5825028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

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We're going to leave a link in the description of this podcast so you can do just that. And the verse of the day today comes from Hebrews chapter 12, verse two, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Yes. This is one of those.

Yes, dude. It just hypes me. It gets me hyped. You got real animated at the end of that.

There's so much there. The author and finisher of our faith. Perfect. One of the most apt descriptions of Christ as God, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.

That's just another one of those. You could spend entire sermons just on that. And then as a result, has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. I really believe, and I know Dr. Shah thinks this too, that Paul wrote this because it reads just like something Paul would write, to just be lavishing all of this praise and just putting all this praise on Jesus's name. He's the author and finisher of our faith. It means he's got everything under control. He's writing our story. The joy that was set before him, he understood he was on a mission. He understood all of this.

He endured the cross, and now he has his reward. That's right. That's right. It's so rich.

It's so full. You're absolutely right. That theology behind it is very reminiscent of Paul.

It's very reminiscent of the way that he would write. That focus on Christ. That focus on, this is where you're going. This is your goal. This is who you're looking to as you are running your race, as you are pursuing God.

It helps to have that as a marker set before you. You're crunching into the microphone. What are you eating? David got me some paprika.

I don't know if you can see it. Paprika Pringles? Paprika. Never seen this flavor before. I have never heard of such.

He got me these from Greece. Hang on a second. I'm going to crunch it again so y'all can hear it.

Oh, no. This is a good radio. You made a large portion of our listeners uncomfortable. I've got a story about Hezekiah's tunnel that I want Dr. Shah to tell, but I want to tell when we were in Masada in Israel. I'm there with David, and I'm there with my wife, who is near the end of the trip. By this point, the story Dr. Shah is going to tell has already happened.

This is near the end of the trip. Pringles are already a source of contention. People are, I mean, imagine being on a trip and people are upset due to these stacky chips.

I mean, it's gotten to the point where it's caused problems. Then I see in Masada honey mustard Pringles, and I say, oh my gosh, that's my favorite. They don't even make those in America anymore. They don't sell them in America.

I'm going to get them. Then Nicholas, who is our camera operator and our switcher here on The Cleve Today Show, looks at me for no reason at all and goes, don't do that. I was like, what? He was like, just don't. Why would you do that?

Don't do it. I was like, it made me feel bad. Wait a minute. How old was Nick at the time? The time he was like 16. How old are you right now, Nicholas? I'm 20. He's 20.

We went in 2020. He was 17. He was 17 years old.

I was 27, 28. But then David was getting into it because he was like, now he didn't want Nicholas to feel like he could tell me what to do. Now it's a matter of principle. Now it was like inner staff drama going on like Dr. Shah's, the story might have Dr. Shah tell had already happened with the Pringles. Now there's like inner staff drama going on around some Pringles. Do you remember that, David? Do you remember feeling like you now have to buy the Pringles to show Nicholas you don't have to listen to him? It wasn't the fact that you had to now listen to Nicholas.

Like I wasn't worried about that. It was just the fact that you wanted Pringles and then because you were embarrassed, you didn't get them. I was like, dude, just get the Pringles. Don't be embarrassed to prove a Pringle point. Yeah. And then I remember David was like, you know what?

I'll buy the Pringles. And I was like, no, no, I did. He embarrassed me. And for no reason, he was just like, don't, he didn't say like, they've already been a problem.

He was just like, don't do it. You don't need honey mustard Pringles. You've been reprimanded by your wife, Rebecca, and my dad. Yeah. And all of that was them. I'm going to have pass a shot, tell the story, but it just, just know that if you're traveling internationally, don't buy Pringles.

They will destroy your relationships. That's what I'm glad that David, you didn't buy the Pringles until we were done in Greece. So we were like, that was, that was it. We were leaving the next day and then David bought Pringles. I need to have, I need to have Ellie come on and explain the whole Pringles thing and has a guy's tunnel after Pasha shot.

Does it do not lead an international trip with Pringles? It will ruin it. Dude.

It costs so much chaos and drama. I can't wait through the rest of that story. We're going to grab Dr. Shaw for that story in just a second, but do you guys have any questions or suggestions for new topics?

Let us know your favorite flavor of Pringles and how Pringles have ruined your trips by texting honey mustard, honey mustard, honey mustard, Texas at two five two five eight two five zero two eight, or visit us online and clear view today show.com. Stay tuned. We'll be back after this. Hey there listeners.

I'm John Galantis and I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, 30 days to a new beginning daily devotions to help you move forward. You know, this is actually the second book in the 30 day series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. And when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start, but a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start. And that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. 30 days encourages you to find your fresh start in God's word. Life doesn't have a reset button, but our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab 30 days to a new beginning on amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text two five two five eight two five zero two eight. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show?

Let's do it. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at two five two five eight two five zero two eight.

That's right. If today's your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today Show, we want to welcome you, let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism professor at Carolina University, author, full time pastor and host of today's show. You can find all of his work on his website. That's AbbadanShah.com.

Before we start, Dr. Shah, can I interest you in a paprika pringle? David actually brought me these from Greece. I saw when he bought them and I'm like, why? It's for Jon. I'm like, really?

You're going to take this all the way back to the United States on two different flights? They're good. You want one? Maybe later? Paprika Pringle. You know what's funny is I was telling the guys this and we talked about it a little bit on the intro is that Pringles have almost ruined every trip that we've gone on.

We talked about it a little bit. When we went in 2020, there was just Pringles everywhere, but I wanted to save it because I wanted you to tell the story about the Pringles in Hezekiah's tunnel. So we're coming out of Temple Mount, headed to the city of David and the city of David is also connected to Hezekiah's tunnel.

Okay. So it's all, the city of David is on the side of the hill. There's a Kidron Valley. Then you can see it going back up towards another side of Jerusalem. And then underneath just everything that you're walking through has been chiseled out. So when you walk through the Hezekiah's tunnel, you know that every piece of what you're walking in between had been touched and chiseled by human hands about, you know, think about it 27, 2800 years ago. And it's narrow.

It's a narrow path, but it has so much significance. But then you hear this clangity clang sound through that tunnel and sound like, what is that sound? Because you're trying to enjoy the significance of where you are.

Yes. Because we're all like, you cannot be like two people walking side by side. This is like, you have to go behind each other because it gets narrow in places, but it's really cool. You feel like you're in Indiana Jones. You do. You really do. Except there's like so many people.

So not so many, but it's, you know, 30, 40 people. And then I hear this clang clang clang clang. I'm like, what is that sound? And then I look at John, who's like a couple of people ahead of me, and he has a whole bag of Pringles.

Not just one, but I would say three different cans inside this bag and tied and just hitting side to side of this beautiful, beautiful tunnel. So I want to back up, because that's true. Everything he said, 100%. It's factual.

It happened. At the start of the day, as we're going into the city of David, my bougie wife and his bougie daughter, Rebecca, go in there and buy tons of Pringles. They buy like five cans, and they eat two of them like on the way down. And so then they're like, and I've got a can myself, but then they're like, let's get this bag and we're just going to tie it to John's book bag. And I was like, Hey, I've got camera equipment in there. I don't want it tied to my book bag. They're like, we're going to tie it.

And so they tie it to my book bag and I'm like, well, I'm not going to fight over Pringles. And then we can start going through your Hezekiah's tunnel. And instantly, every time I turn, it's like clang clang clang clang clang clang. And Dr. Shah is behind us and he's like, think about where we are guys. Like, like Hezekiah's men built this. This was here.

What I'm saying is this was here in the clang clang clang. It's like a cow bell walking through the tunnel. And then I'm like, all right, do I take responsibility or do I be like, no, this was Ellie. This was Rebecca and Ellie. They sabotaged me. They're way up ahead. They're having fun. They're taking selfies and I'm back there.

So I didn't know whether to get angry or upset or what, but I'm like, let's just get through this thing. There's not been a trip where Pringles were involved that things didn't go south. But I love the paprika Pringles.

I'm really enjoying them. We saw a couple of them in Greece. They had regular flavors, but they also had different flavors like paprika. I think they had oregano too.

That's like kind of flavors that are off the beaten path. That's pretty cool. Well, in today's episode, guys, we want to continue the conversation that we began yesterday on the practice of prayer. You know, we're talking about the importance of prayer in the life of the believer, what prayer is not, and how we need to approach this topic of prayer and our understanding of what it means in our lives. Yeah. We kind of talked yesterday about how, like, people would stop in the street and just do it. They're like, oops, I'm running late. Well, I guess everyone have to look at me while I pray.

Oh, no. When that was their goal. I wish this could have been avoided.

Yeah. For the benefit of our listeners, our viewers, we're going in depth in the context in which Jesus said that statement in Matthew 6.5, and when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. So we spent some time digging in and understanding how the Amida, that daily prayer was practiced, how that Shemona Ezra, those 19 petitions were declared to God. And many times these folks were running late, whether intentionally or unintentionally, we don't know, but they were running late.

And then they would stand at street corners and do this whole show to be seen by people. And so Jesus is calling them out and saying, I know what you're up to. Stop it. This is not how you display your spirituality.

Your prayer should be your conversation with God as your heavenly father, not a circus for people to admire. And it's funny because we often see people doing that kind of thing. Like it's a trope.

Like people will go, like aspiring writers, they'll go write in public in Starbucks and people will go do their selfies and do their TikToks in public and be like a public, I don't want to say a public nuisance, but they'll go do it because they want people to see them. And it's funny to look 2000 years back and say, human nature, nothing has changed. So I do want to say one thing before we go further into this passage that many times you will hear us talking about biblical passages or some issue, some topic, and it may seem like we're going on a tangent. It may seem like we just set off on a rabbit chase, but it's not. What we're doing here is kind of digging a deep foundation. The goal of our show is not just to talk about this topic and that topic or this passage and that passage.

Our goal is to build a foundation that goes deep. So many times you'll see us or hear us kind of go off on a tangent. Like here we were talking about how the Jewish people were practicing their prayer. And you may think like, well, I don't need to know about Shemona Ezra and Amida and all this stuff and walking three steps forward and three steps backwards. I mean, what's I got to do with this passage? Well, it has a lot to do with this passage because once you understand the context, then you can understand, oh, so these people were intentionally running late so they could stand on street corners and do their entire ritual, which should have been done in the synagogue if they had gotten there on time.

So they're running late so they can be at the best crossroads and stand there and do this show so that they can be seen by people. Wow. The hypocrisy of that. But here's the point. We may not stand at street corners and do this, but don't we do this? One of our hypocrisies, and I'm included in that list, many times people tell me, it's like you step on my toes.

I'm like, if you had any idea how much I'm stomping on my own, you would understand why I'm saying what I'm saying. But don't we do this? When on social media, somebody says, please pray for blah, blah, blah. And we say praying. I mean, my question really is even to myself, did you really pray? Yeah.

Yeah. Continued prayers. Praying.

We'll keep you in prayer. Prayers. Are you really praying for that person or are you telling them that I'm a praying person? Yeah.

Yeah. It's not, it's not even about making that person feel better. It's about telling them that you are the type of person that you can always come to. I want you to know that I'm the type of person that prays without having the burden of having to actually pray.

It's such an easy cop out. One of the things that you've done, that I love and I've tried to start doing myself is instead of just commenting, praying, you put praying right now. And you know, in your head, when you put, when you write praying, you can just kind of rationalize like, I'll be in a spirit of prayer for this person, whatever that means to you. But if you say praying right now, and then you don't, like if I write that and then I don't stop right now, now I'm a liar.

Now I have actually told you something that is not true. So, and that's kind of like a gut check for me. And something you've, you've even among us that I, that I really like is that you're like, you don't have to have this long diatribe. Like sometimes it's just, God, please help me, please help this person. And just coming to God in those moments and knowing that if, if I ask for it, it's going to happen, right? Well, that's the second thing Jesus tells them in verse seven, this is Matthew six, seven. He says, 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. Therefore do not be like them. So we may not be heathens, but it's not much different than what we do even today.

We mumble unnecessary words in prayer that add absolutely nothing to our conversation with God. Yeah. Like Christian nomenclature buzzwords almost like Christian buzzwords to where, you know, that, you know, if I say this, I'm going to get a response out of someone. That's right.

That's right. If I say these in the right sequence and use them enough times, the people are going to know that I'm yeah. We have a certain rhythm of praying a certain way of praying. And I see people do that all the time and I'm not here to tell them or, or say like you are unspiritual or you're a hypocrite because I may not have the rhythm, but I may also be doing vain repetitions. Vain repetitions is not a certain rhythm or certain cadence of talking to God. It can be using words like and plead the blood of Jesus. What does that mean?

Plead the blood of Jesus. Yeah, that's true. We don't talk like that. Yeah. And, and, or in Jesus name, you know, these are just buzzwords and they don't really add anything to our conversation with God.

Imagine if your son sat with you and said, or, or, or if Noah talked to you that way, father, the benevolent one. What's wrong with you? Distributor of cookies and treats galore.

Yes. What do you want? I plead treats with my father. I plead, I plead your treats over me. Father God. Father God. Yeah.

Father God. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, father God.

We thank you, father God, that you, you hear us father God. Yes. Yeah.

They'll, they'll put it in. Father God, we just want to ask you, father God, that you would, father God help us. I'm like, what are you doing? It's revealing that this is your anchor and you don't pray a lot. Yep. And so when you don't pray a lot, you do fall back on things that you feel like people expect you to say.

It doesn't sound good. Yeah. And it gives you a sense of passion.

I get it. When you have those kinds of ways, it's almost like a batter up on the batting mound. Right. And, and they begin to kind of, you know, twirl that, that bat. So that's what we're doing here. It's like twirling it so we can get as much maximum power to hit that ball out of the stadium. But that's not how prayer is.

It's like someone asks you to pray and it's like, all right, I got to ring this out for all it's worth. Like I've got this spongy mop. Bring it all out. Just get all that prairie goodness out. Prairie goodness.

It's all the cream filling. I'm done. Yeah. But vain reputations can also be repeating the Lord's prayer or the doxology or the apostles' creed. This is also part of vain repetition because you're no longer thinking of what you're saying, but you're saying it and you think that if I say it, then I mean it and then it gives me all the spiritual value I need as long as I get it done. That's those, that's sort of the idea behind rosaries or counting the beads. That's what people are doing. It's like, I'm not thinking about it, but as long as my, I am almost by the rote memory or by this sense of routine or ritual, I'm doing this counting the beads that is happening. I don't have to think about it.

It's happening. But I'm sorry if your kids did that with you, if Noah came up to you or Gavin came up to you and let's say he had this little rope tied to a stick and he just kept twirling it around, around you, what would you say? He's like, Hey, Hey, stop that.

You're going to hit me. But he's like, no, this is me talking to you. Just pretend like these are words coming at you.

What would you say to them? That's annoying. Why don't you just talk to me? I'm right here.

Tell me what you want. It's one of those things where it's like, if I, if I memorize it, it's kind of like the national Anthem. I'm like, all I have to do is memorize it. Then I say it, I know it. It's like, but I'm not thinking about like, like even with the national anthem, like, or like the, what is it that you do with the pledge of allegiance? Right. It's like, I'm saying the words, I know these words, but they no longer hold that weight for me because they're words. It's a rhythm.

I can say the pledge of allegiance and check out mentally. Yep. Yep.

Yep. And so Jesus says here, for your heavenly father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. So the whole point is this prayer is family talk.

It's a child talking to his or her heavenly father. It's a loving conversation. You cannot fake it.

That's right. Not, not try to show off neither. Can you use vain repetitions? It has to be a conversation where you feel what you're talking about, where you stop and listen, where you, where you are corrected or where you are affirmed.

This is all part of the conversation. So I hope our listeners, our viewers are understanding this, that Jesus was calling those people out, but in a sense he's calling us out because we also use vain repetition, but something else here in verse nine, it says in this manner, therefore pray. Now here comes the Lord's prayer or the pater nostra. And it begins with, what does it begin with? Our father, father, father in heaven, which means it is a conversation with God as our father.

All right. And this, this prayer, which we call the Lord's prayer, really the disciples prayer, the Lord's prayer is I believe the one in John, right? John 17, I believe. But, but the one here in Matthew six, and then again, a shorter version in Luke 11 they are more about the disciples prayer. Cause in Luke, the disciples came to Jesus and said, teach us to pray. And so in response to that, Jesus, give them the prayer. How do you, how do you respond to people who are like, see, he gave them his prayer. Jesus commanded us to pray like this. So we should just recite it. Like, like, like when they, when they use that almost as an excuse to just recite that prayer. Cause I've definitely had people even ask me like, why don't we do it in the church? Why don't we just say the Lord's prayer? Jesus said to do it.

Like nothing I can say is going to be better than what he said to do. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. But I mean, he gave it as a model in this manner, therefore pray. It was not like this is what you should pray in this manner. This is the script. This is the, uh, almost like the template that should guide your prayer life.

And how does it begin? Our father in heaven means God is our father, our creator, our superior, our Redeemer hallowed be your name. In other words, God's names are his character and his work in our lives. He will hallow his name, but how about in my own life? Will I hallow his name? Will I glorify his name? So hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. It is a sovereign, eternal rule of God over his world. And we're praying that that kingdom will come and it begins in our hearts when we are saved and it will be completed or consummated when Jesus comes again.

I find it very interesting in the beginning of the Lord's prayer is not asking for things. Yes. It's not God, will you give me this or God, would you do this or God, would you heal this? It's God, you are great.

Yes. And let your will be done. That has stuck with me through the years. I think I heard that sermon you preach like years and years and years ago is that that he starts it the way he starts it for a reason. And even to this day, I always think about that when I go to God in prayers to start on the right foot, not, not because he requires it as his rule, but because it puts my heart and my mind in the right place. That's right.

Yeah. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God has a revealed will, what God expects and a secret will, what God is up to. So here the prayer is for the secret will.

It's not like this is how you should behave. This is more about, this is what I'm doing. And we're praying and saying, God, please do it here.

Right? Let it begin in my heart. So your will be done on earth as it is in heaven in my life, as you're doing it in this world, in the heavenlies. Now we will look at the next three lines and they're known as the we petitions because it's all about we give us this day, our daily bread, forgive us our debts, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil ones.

So they're all the we petitions. But I like that give us this day, our daily bread, you know what I'm saying? This thing where we it's, it's almost again, it's, I think we said this yesterday, it's expected that we're going to do this every day. And it's a callback to the, to the manna in the wilderness. I mean, the Israelites getting what they needed from God for that day. Not trying to store up and hang on to and, you know, furiously try to bury stuff in the sand, but trusting God that he will meet your needs for that.

Just in case God doesn't come through tomorrow, let me go ahead and save this for, save these prayers and these blessings for a rainy day. Yeah, exactly. And just to clarify, if you remember what Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The bread is not just physical bread, like a loaf of bread or a bagel or, or, or donut or an English muffin. This bread is also spiritual. That's true.

Very, very true. So give us this day, our daily bread, and then forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. So I would say this is probably the hardest line in the disciples prayer.

Yeah. Cause I'm worthy of being forgiven, but people who have wronged me, I feel like they're not. No, they deserve, I deserve forgiveness. They deserve justice. Well, cause I'm not that bad of a guy. So I mean the Lord kind of understands, you know, what I was going through at the time. Right.

They have no excuse. Yeah. Well, Ian Bowne said it this way. He said, a heart of all love, a heart, all love, a heart that holds even its enemies and loving contemplation and prayerful concern, a heart from which all bitterness, revenge and envy are purged. How rare.

Yeah. This is the only condition of mind and heart in which a man can expect to command the power of prayer. That's true. You said something once I know we've said on the podcast too, but I think it's so much easier for us to accept God's mercy. Cause it didn't cost me anything at all. God, God paid the price for that. Christ paid the price for that for me to forgive my enemies.

I've got a that's going to cost me and I don't know. I'm not about that at all. Yeah. And I think that's something that's, that's really shaped my way of thinking, especially about mercy is that my mercy is not really mercy. It's just ignoring sin. Yeah. In a sense, self-preservation. Yeah. Yeah. Cause it's, it's, it doesn't cost me anything.

Yep. Just protect myself, keep myself out of the limelight, mind my own business, have my own happiness. You can do whatever you want to do. And that's not how God wants us to live.

No, not at all. And then here comes the next line, which is lead us, uh, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. So even though God allows us to go through trials to purify and humble us, he wants us to become a, to come to him as a child to his or her father and plead for mercy and grace to help in town.

That's right. But then the final line, which is coming out of Matthew, not Luke, but in Matthew and yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen. It's like powerful bookends to start in on the right foot. You were the creator.

You were the sustainer. If you guys enjoyed today's episode or if you want to learn more, have more, learn more suggestions about your prayer life, things you can do to grow closer to God in that way. Send us a text and let us know two five two five eight two five zero two eight, where you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. You can partner with us financially on that same website, click that donate now button and become part of our Clearview Today Show family, impacting the nations with the gospel of Jesus. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clear View Today.