Lack of faith = lack of power?

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense (skandalizō) at him. Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Mar 6:1-6

Jesus came to his Home town the folks that should know him best show that they have heard of the miracles and teachings he has been doing by the nature of their questions.

So why the doubt?

Although many people believe his power was limited and he couldn't any miracles because Jesus was met with disbelief, I don't think this was the case at all.

Mark uses the word skandalizō here. We find Jesus using the same word in a couple of other places...


Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly Fall away (skandalizō). Mar 4:16-17

"You will all fall away (skandalizō)," Jesus told them, "for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."
Peter declared, "Even if all fall away (skandalizō ), I will not."
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today-yes, tonight-before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times."
But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same. Mar 14:27-31

Jesus was able to do miraculous things with and even through his disciples, and yet he clearly says they will all skandalizō.

And while we are talking about doubt I seem to remember an incident involving walking on water in which there was some degree of doubt...

Its interesting to me that Mark places this story here in the text. It is a sharp contrast to the healing of the bleeding woman, raising of the dead girl, calming of the storm, and healing of the deamon posest man. In all of these other examples Jesus appears to have tremendous power.

So are we really looking at a lack of power?

Often when someone asks me why Jesus would say he is the only way I feel as if they are asking why some are excluded. I have however found that their question seems to be framed a little wrong.

They are viewing Jesus statement as if he is some kind co dependant God. Like he is saying love me or else I'm going to punish you forever.

But that's not what he is saying at all.

In a house fire children tend to hide from firefighters. The house is smoky and hot, there are probably loud fire alarms going off and the firefighters are wearing Darth-Vader looking costumes. In this situation a firefighter may come crashing through the door and reach out for the child saying “I'm here to save you.” if the child resists the firefighter may say “The house is on fire, come with me or you will die.” The firefighter is not saying “If you don't choose to hang out with me I'll kill you.” He is saying “I've come to help you, there is no other way out, no one else can come in here to get you.”

Jesus is saying “This world is burning up, I'm here to save you. I'm not going to force you to come with me. But you need to know I'm the only one coming for you, there is no one else...”
I think the same kind of thing is going on in Mark 6. God desires restoration physically and spiritually. But he won't force his will on anyone. Those who are rocky soil, who fall away, who lack faith may not fully enter the Kingdom of God and receive that restoration.
As the pithy christian saying goes “God loves you but he won't force you to love him.”

http://being-the-body.blogspot.com/2010/01/jesus-left-there-and-went-to-his.html

Our goal as Christ-followers is simply not to be good at the great commandment, but to be great at it

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."

With this simple quote from Jesus Mark Batterson (no relation) begins to unpack what it might mean to really begin believing Jesus not just believing in Jesus. He invites us to cut away the politics and the unnecessary drapery (some of which is beautiful), and simply explore what following Jesus is in the simplest, rawest, purest form possible

Primal takes you on a journey to rediscover the true meaning of the great commandment.

Mark asserts "The truth is that most of us are already educated way beyond the level of our obedience." In essence he points out that we tend come up with a list of “dos” and “don’ts” and “OKs” and “not OKs” to show that we are different and hold that up to the world as Christianity.

He also writes “I couldn't’t help but wonder if we have diluted the truths of Christianity and settled for superficialities. I couldn't’t help but wonder if we have accepted a form of Christianity that is more educated but less powerful, more civilized but less compassionate, more acceptable but less authentic than that which our spiritual ancestors practiced.”

Mark concludes that "Our goal as Christ-followers is simply not to be good at the great commandment, but to be great at it."

He ends the book with an invitation to all people to become part of the next reformation movement. A reformation that consists of being “a part of something that is bigger than you, more important than you and longer lasting than you.” It is an invitation to rediscover and rejoin the movement that turned the world upside down two thousand years ago.

Have you been disorientated lately

Mar 4:9 Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mar 4:10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.
Mar 4:11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
Mar 4:12 so that,
“ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!' ”


This is a hard story to unpack. Well its not hard to unpack, but its implications are hard to swallow.

The crowds have come out to hear this infamous rabbi who teaches with a new authority.
But he refuses to just give them the rules.
There is no 5 steps to a happy marriage
No 13 steps to health and wealth
No lists of do's and don'ts

Jesus keeps challenging them with strange stories that appear to be metaphors...

But why?

If Christ is truly God, the creator of all that is seen and unseen, is there not something more important for him to communicate to us then stories of weeds, yeast, and mustard seeds?

Dan Stiver suggests in his book, Theology After Riceour, that parables contain “a surplus of meaning” AND are a “catalyst of new meaning.” emphasis mine.

In other words parables do not simply instruct, they teach.

Jesus's parables demand mental, spiritual, and emotional struggle and energy. As Ricoeur suggested the parables require a “re-orientation by disorientation”


Jesus's parables are not just truth claims to be mentally assented to, they draw the us in and make us re-examine our understanding our actions our very lives. There is personal development that the parable demands. Which is perhaps what we could miss if we are "ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding..."

The things Jesus is teaching are impossible to articulate literally. The thoughts we arrive at through wrestling with the parables are just glimpses of the Kingdom of God. The dreams of God are so great that words just fall flat. Like trying to explain a sunset to a blind man Jesus attempts to shed a small light on our understanding of the way God intends things to be.

The parable transcends a set of rules and commands that can be handed down through the generations. Rules and commands can not get us close to where we need to be. That's the problem we have faced since the beginning. Adam gave Eve rules without helping her to think about them. (compare what Eve tells the serpent in Gen 3:2-3 with what God tells Adam in Gen 2:16-17)

The human mind needs to discover truth on its own merit. A parable, in a unique way, guides us down a path only to leave us at the doorstep of a newly discovered truth. If we just glance at it we miss the deeper reality Jesus is trying to show us. The parable invites us to question and explore the teaching and thoughts.The truth within a parable has to be discovered.

Be careful that you don't try to boil a Parable down to try and set a new rule or static teaching...

I play bass guitar. I often play with other musicians, guitarist mostly. When I play with a guitarist I need to be able to listen to a cord as they play it and pick out the root note (usually the lowest note). To do this I need to listen carefully hear the several notes being played and pick out the right one to play with.

The right note for me may not be the right note for another guitar player who is playing along with us. He may be listening to the cord and playing several of the notes in the cord, one note at a time, as a scale. His notes are not better than or more correct than mine. He is listening and playing from a different circumstance.

This gets infinitely more complicated if we add a totally different instrument such as a piano, or saxophone or even the human voice. All of which will hear the cord differently because of their need and subjective experience, and thus use the original guitarist's cord slightly differently.

It occurs to me that no one ever says "your not playing the same notes." We are all aware that we contribute to the music together in our own unique way... As long as we stay in the same rhythm and stay in the right key, we all remain true to the music.

So it is with Parables. We can find many meanings and applications hidden in Jesus Parables. When we listen to a parable we need to know Jesus is giving us several notes, and the spirit may make anyone of them, or any combination of two or more of them, come to the forefront in the time and place we find ourselves in. In this way the Parable can speak truth to our life and current circumstance.


Also interesting to note here...
The 12 were not the only ones who Jesus gave his secret to!
4:10 says
"Twelve and the others around " (NIV)
"Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around" (NLT)
"As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve," (NASB)

Jesus waited for those who only wanted to glean a set of rules and or who were just out to see the new hip Rabbi who was shaking things up, to go away.
He waited until only those who were serious about wrestling with the issues he was raising were present.

How can we know they were serious?
They are the ones who stayed behind and asked him...
And then he answers them.

And verse 12 is a reference to Isaiah 6... Which is God warning the overly religious, yet shallow, people that he is far from happy...




http://being-the-body.blogspot.com/

Jesus was not Mr Rogers...

Jesus was not Mr Rogers
And we do him a great disservice when we act like he was some Mr. Nice guy...

the greek word praotēs:
“A settling down and quieting of anger”

The Greek word orgē:
"burning anger, accompanied by pain, for an apparent injustice … done by someone who was not entitled”

What makes you angry?

There are 2 main types of anger in The Greek Language are:

1. eris - contention, strife, wrangling, seeks revenge

2. orgē - anger, movement or agitation of the soul, deep hurt



Mar 2:23
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.
Mar 2:24
The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
Mar 2:25
He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?
Mar 2:26
In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."
Mar 2:27
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Mar 2:28
So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
This bread Concreated holy was only to be eaten by the priest and only in a holy place (lev 24)



David was chosen by God to be King. There was only one problem... Saul still wanted to be king.

So David and his men were on the run. And Saul was trying to kill them at every turn. They were considered enemy's of the state.

Its hard to get much to eat when your wanted in every village, town, and city.

So one day David went to the temple and asked the priest for food. The priest had none, so David ate, and shared, the Concreted holy bread.

-----------------------
Jesus and his disciples were traveling and being hungry began to pluck and eat the grain in the fields they were walking through.


Who were the pharisees?

The Pharisees considered this threshing wheat, a Sabbath violation.

This was a natural thing to do and should not have drawn much attention. The problem was not theft. The law had a provision for this.

Deu 23:25
If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.


But the Pharisees were so legalistic that they claimed this was a violation of the Sabbath observance.

And so Jesus uses this Judo kind of move...


Mar 2:25
He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?

Of course they had heard... Remember these were the best of the best students. They had memorized the scriptures. They knew the story of King David by heart.


Mar 2:27
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Bam!
The reason for the rules is to give people a rest, not make them work harder to avoid breaking the rules.
And then as if to twist the knife a little deeper he adds


Mar 2:28
So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Son of man is a title given to the mesiah. He's telling them he has the athority to make the rules, not them.


Mar 3:1
Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.
Mar 3:2
Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.
Mar 3:3
Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."
Mar 3:4
Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.
Mar 3:5
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
Mar 3:6
Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.



Which type of anger is Jesus displaying here?

1.eris - contention, strife, wrangling, seeks revenge

2. orgē - anger, movement or agitation of the soul, deep hurt

If the man has a shrivled hand he faced all kinds of challenges.
He would be outcast from much of socity for his deformity...
Remember they had no toilet paper, so what hand does he wipe with, eat with...
This would have made it hard for him to get married or have a family
It probably would have made it hard for him to own or work land or a business.

Jesus had a Popeye moment!
“That's all I can take, I can't takes no more!”

He had lots of these, and we'll be looking at some of them in the coming weeks.
It should kinda reminds us of the prophets...


Isa 58:1


Amo 5:21
"I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
Amo 5:22
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Amo 5:23
Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Amo 5:24
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!



What are some examples in modern day life of these two types of anger?

Who can never be gorgiven?

So another thing to unpack in my journey through The Gospel of Mark...-

Mar 3:29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

First lets look at the setting...

Jesus said this in response to the Pharisees, the religious elite, who were calling the Jesus and the spirit he was infused with a demon or unclean spirit (see Mar 3:22). We can also see that this is one of the popular responses to what He was doing and saying because his family had come down "to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." (see Mar 3:21)

Often what happens is this verse is taken out of context and used to mean "if you have said somthing bad about The holy spirit, Jesus, God, the Church, The Pope, (or what ever other ax the person speaking has to grind) then God will turn his back on you and you get the punishment you deserve...

But we can see from the preceding verse that Jesus is not talking about this.

Mar 3:28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.

Which harmonizes well with the other things Jesus said:


Jhn 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
Jhn 6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Jhn 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Jhn 6:40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."



When Jesus said this to the religious elite he did so knowing they had an excellent knowledge of scriptures (most of them had them memorized). So when he uses the term Blasphemies he is drawing on a very specific understanding of what it means to blaspheme..

Which brings to a more important point...

What does it mean to use the Lord’s name in vain or blaspheme?

This is a question that might seem self-evident to most people in western society. Whether you are religious or not, you would probably not even hesitate with your answer...

I often struggled with how to reconcile my faith in God with my occasional under my breath damming of something or other. So I've done some researched on the original words used, naqa (vain), I read several commentaries, researched on-line, and prayed. These are the best explanations I have found.

Some people believe the reason why this is a violation of the third commandment is because people are using God’s name in a “vain,” “worthless,” or “empty” way. In this case, to say “God damn it is not the same as seriously calling upon God to damn something or someone. For these people, if you say it seriously, fine, but if you say it casually, then you have used His name in an empty way and thereby broken the third commandment.

If the principle that we are going by is that we are not to use God’s name and not really mean it, then I believe that we are very inconsistent in what we take offense to as a culture.

Why don’t people get offended when others say “God bless you?”

Do you think that every time someone says this that they really mean it?

Do you think that in their mind they are talking to God, beseeching on your behalf for a blessing?
Just about every email I get ends with the phrase, “God bless.” I seriously doubt that that person actually said a prayer for me before he or she hit send. If this is the case, then why is saying ”God bless you” not just as much a violation of the third commandment as saying “God damn you?”

Is it more biblical to ask for God’s kindness or judgment?

I don’t think anyone who is honest with themselves can say that they are consistent in this regard. Saying “God damn it” and not meaning it should be just as bad as saying “God bless you” and not meaning it.

This is the most important reflection so I have saved it for last. In fact, if what I am about to say is true, then other arguments really don't make any difference.

The question is this: What does it mean to use God’s name in an empty or vain way?
OR
What does the third commandment really mean?
Or
What would the orginal hearers have understood it to mean?

It is hard to tell from a simple word study on the Hebrew term naqa (vain). Also our understanding of a “name” and what it signifies is much different than what it meant in the context in which this commandment was given. What we have to do is to try to understand what it meant then, so that we can understand what it means now.

It does us no good to anachronistically impose our understanding upon an ancient text. This is exegesis (reading into the text what we presuppose), not exegesis (letting the text speak on its own terms).

This is what my studies have shown.

The nations to which the Israelites were going had many gods. They were highly superstitious. Their prophets would often use the name of their god in pronouncements. The usage could be in a curse, hex, or even a blessing. They would use the name of their god to give their statements, whatever they may be, authority.

To pronounce something in their own name would not have given their words much weight, but to pronounce something in the name of a god meant that people would listen and fear. They may have said;
“In the name of Baal, there will be no rain for 40 days.”
Or
“In the name of Marduk, I say that you will win this battle.”

This gave the prophet much power and authority. But, as we know, there is no Baal or Marduk. Since this is the case, they did not really make such pronouncement and therefore the words of the prophet had no authority and should neither have been praised or feared.

God was attempting to prevent the Israelites from doing the same thing. God was saying for them not to use His name like the nations used the names of their gods.

He did not want them to use His name to invoke false authority behind pronouncements. In essence, God did not want the Israelites to say that He said something that He had not said.

This makes sense. God has a reputation to protect. He does not want anyone saying “Thus sayeth the Lord” if the Lord had not spoken. All of you have experienced this. You have had people say you said something you did not say. This can be very damaging to your character.

It is very destructive to your name. Why? Because it makes you out to be something that you are not. How much more important is it for God to protect His character? It is fitting that God would have put this as one of the ten most important commandments as the nation of Israel moved towards Canaan.

What does this mean for us?

Well, for starters we understand that the third commandment is certainly not focused on something so trivial as saying “God damn it!”

The funny thing is that while some people may never think of using that phrase, people all over the Christian religious landscape are breaking the third commandment every day, damaging the Lord’s reputation. “Thus sayeth the Lord . . .” “God told me to tell you . . .” “God says that if you send in money to build our minstry you will be blessed.” I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Using the name of the Lord in vain means that you do damage to His reputation and character through false and unsure claims. This is what Blaspheme is all about.

They were trying to speak for God and comdeming the spirit that was in/working through Jesus.
And Jesus lets them know that what they are doing is highly offensive to the trinity...

It has nothing to do with you having said somthing bad about The holy spirit, Jesus, God, the Church, The Pope, (or what ever other else people try to use this passage to mean)


http://being-the-body.blogspot.com/

Finding ourselves in the wilderness...

I have been meeting with a group of folks and sharing communion and life together. Our little ekklēsia (ek-klā-sē'-ä) has decided to begin reading the gospel of Mark together and discuss its implications as a community. Its kinda like open-source theology (open-source meaning anyone may contribute and theology meaning words about God).

It sounds easy enough, I've read and re-read the Gospels tons... But as always happens when you undertake a serious reading of scripture, and approach the text with an open mind, new things crop up that you have never seen before and they can lead to questions and doubts and hopefully, in the best of circumstances, new understandings about how God moves in our world.

This part of the story has really caught hold of me over the last week:

Mar 1:12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
(ESV)

Mark uses a very active verb to describe what happened to Christ after his baptism in the Jordan.

Matthew and Luke both have Jesus being "led" by the Spirit into the wilderness, but Mark doesn't paint the picture as something gentle. Mark has the Spirit driving, thrusting, propelling Jesus into the desert, the wilderness, the barrenness.

Mark's statement "The Spirit immediately drove Him," makes it feel almost as if Christ went against His will...

Jesus story begins with a Divine affirmation, a reunion of the trinity, a granting of authority but immediately leads to an extended even forced stay in the wilderness. But we find historically He is in good company:

Abraham, wandered in the desert between the promise and the birth of Isaac.
Israel wandered between the liberation from Egypt and the entrance of the promised land.
David hid in desert caves between finding God's favor and stepping to the throne.
Elisha dwelt in the wilderness between receiving Elijah's spirit and bringing God's word to his people...

You get the point.

So what if bouts in the wilderness are an essential part of life in the Spirit?

Could the desert wilderness represent the barren and harsh places in our own lives?

Are they the places of trial and abandonment where we are forced to realize that we are not in control?

Is the wilderness a terrifying space where we are able to realize we are completely vulnerable and completely dependent?

Since we were banished from the Garden the wilderness has been a part of our journey.

But this doesn't fit with much of what we are told in Western Christianity, does it?

We are led to believe that "life in the Spirit" means constant joy, peace, happiness, and smugness (knowing all of the answers without even asking the questions). We are left to assume that any period of doubt, sadness, or just general unjoyfulness is the result of Satan's activity or OUR OWN sin's alienating power.

But what if that's not always the case?

What if there are seasons when the Spirit drives us out?

What if there is a Divine Wisdom in wilderness that can be learned nowhere else?

What if seasons in the desert are simply part of the path we are on following Jesus?

What if the wilderness is an essential part of life in the Spirit?

What if robust faith lives somewhere between absolute trust and deep doubt?

What does it look like to really embrace our wilderness, not just endure it, or pray to be out of it, but to accept it and allow it to shape us.

Where are the wilderness places in my journey, in your journey, in our manifestations of ekklēsia, in our world?

What does it mean for us to embrace them?

What do we have to learn from them?

And what might the spirit be preparing us for?

It's been a week of hard driving and penetrating questions for me as I wrestle my own theology and hope to see the word with new eyes and hear it with new ears...

Please share any thoughts, questions, or answers from your own journeys.


http://being-the-body.blogspot.com/

Are your prayers awe-full

I have spent a lot of time studying Jesus and teaching about the actions of this infamous rabbi and the unpredictable way he moved in this world. But in doing so I have neglected much...

Looking at the history of the human race reveals just how often we totally miss the point and mess everything up.

God gave Mankind a new creation and we couldn't handle it. We build structures and accumulated wealth and power by violence and oppression.

And each time God tried to help us, tried to show the human race a better way to live we managed to muck it up.

Take Noah, If anyone had a chance at moving us in the right direction it was this guy. He had a freshly power washed earth, he and his family were the only people around and he had a direct line to God (God spoke to him and he to God). And yet he dies drunk and naked.

The Israelites, having been rescued from slavery in Egypt, knew first hand the dark side of human power and how centralized human control can be corrupted. And yet they cried out for a human King. Eventually their kings used slave labor to build massive temples and palaces, horded 666 tons of gold (an interesting amount), and used their wealth and power to fortify citys and build armies to the point they were importing and exporting weapons (we would call them arms dealers).

And those are just the highlights!

So when God announces through his prophets that he is going to enter the world and help guide us we should take note...

And when He does show up in the flesh we should listen and do everything he says...

And so with-out further wasting words from me lets get on with the studying of what he said.

First lets look at His teachings on prayer (being that this may be the single most important spiritual discipline).

Mat 6:5
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

What is a hypocrite?

hypocrites - Greek for One who plays a part, The classical word for an actor.

Why would they stand?

If you were in a noisy room and want to get everyone's attention what would you do? You would probably raise your voice and maybe even stand up to make people look and see what you are doing. this is why they had the Reader of the scrolls stand in the synagogue...

Mat 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Most of the folks Jesus was teaching were poor fishermen and peasants (If you follow Jesus travels around on a map you will see he carefully avoided the shiny fancy city's and stuck almost exclusively to small poor villages). They mostly lived in small one or two room houses. The only interior door was to a small store room where they could lock away their family's most prized possessions. I imagine the most beautiful and tragic things happened in those closets...

Mat 6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

The Romans considered Caesar a God. This is how they addressed him:

"Emperor Caesar Galerius Valerius Maximianus Invictus Augustus, Pontifex Maximum, Germanicus Maximus, Egyptiacus Maximus, Thebaicus Maximus, Sarmaticus Maximus (five times), Persicus Maximus (twice), Carpicus Maximus, Holder of Tribunician Authority for the twentieth time, Imperator for the nineteenth, Consul for the eighth, Pater Patriae, Proconsul."

This was done to impress Caesar and make him feel important. If you addressed him well he would more disposed to grant your request or show you mercy. But if you botched it or rushed through it it was not going to be a good day for you.

But Jesus says You can't impress God. He doesn't care about all your titles. This harmonizes with what the writer of Ecclesiastes suggests about appraoching god.

Ecc 5:1-7 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.

So from 1-3 we see We should- listen, be patent,use few words... We should not- offer sacrifices, or speak with out thinking

Then in 4-6 we are warned against trying to make a vow (a bargain with God)

and in 7 the writer sums it up with the best way to approach communication with God "Stand in Awe"

And these attitudes also harmonize with Jesus parable on prayer.

Luk 18:10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Mat 6:8
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

What is 6:8 all about?

**Just a note I don't have a "prayer life." I have a life, and I pray. I reject any idea that the two should be seperate which is probably not what was meant when the phrase was first coined, but that is what it has become for many.**