Intimacy With God | Motive Check
Monday, February 17
Reading: Matthew 6:5-18
Examine Our Motivations
As we work our way through the Sermon on the Mount, we are noticing a theme of the unexpected. Jesus invites us into a Kingdom that doesn’t look anything like the kingdoms we’re familiar with - an upside down Kingdom - where the good life isn’t what we thought it would be. Here again, as Jesus introduces us to prayer and fasting he does so in a new way, and it starts with a gut check…a caution. Jesus challenges us to examine our motivations before we pray or fast and warns us not to be enticed by religion or ritual. It turns out, Jesus is not interested in helping us manage our image.
Pray and ask the Lord to help you see areas of your spiritual life where you’ve been tempted to manage your image or seek the affirmation of others.
Pray and ask the Lord to help you see areas of your spiritual life where you’ve been tempted to manage your image or seek the affirmation of others.
Honest Reflection
- I'd love to be "noticed" by _________ and thought of by them as a person who __________, because...
- When I pray I try to emulate or sound like __________ , because…
- I want others to believe ___________ about my relationship with Jesus, because…
- Sometimes I do _____________ in my spiritual life because I hope others will think ____________ or see me as ______________.
- Prayer is sometimes difficult for me because…
- I wish I could experience ________________ in my prayer life because…