In yesterday’s study, I said that people sometimes ask me questions such as when they should pray, how they should pray, or even why they should pray. Now all these questions have been asked by others, and they were asked in Christ's day. So when Jesus began to teach about prayer, He dealt with them—sometimes by direct teaching, and at other times by example, as in the Lord's Prayer, one of His most helpful teachings about prayer. Jesus said, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy room, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the pagans do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye, therefore, like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him" (Matt. 6:5-8). 

Are you a Christian? That is the question. Is it real? The answer does not depend upon your good works, but rather upon your relationship to the Savior. Have you ever asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior? You must say, "Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am less perfect than you are, and therefore that I deserve nothing–that I have no claims upon you. Nevertheless, I believe that you love me and died for me and that now by grace I can stand before you, clothed in your righteousness. Finally, I commit my life to you. 

Third, the pursuit of human goodness blinds men to their true condition. I remember seeing a movie years ago, in which a number of men in canoes were racing each other on a river. They were paddling as fast as they could go. First one man would get ahead, then another man would get ahead. But the joke of the movie was that the water was moving down the stream faster than their boats were moving up. So although they were racing one another as fast as their paddles could take them, all the while they were being swept toward a waterfall. In the final scene all the boats went over the waterfall together. Well, that is what men are doing. They have their minds so much on themselves, they do not see that the goodness of which they are capable is not taking them anywhere. 

Some time ago a young man said to me that how to become a Christian is the best-kept secret in America. I believe he was right, because the answer to the question "How can I become a Christian?" or "How can I get right with God?” is not often clearly stated in our pulpits, and lay Christians are not always able to give an answer either. As a result, many people are filled with a false confidence before God of what a Christian is—perhaps believing it comes about by biblical knowledge, good works, optimism, or whatever it might be. And others are simply indifferent or confused. 

Deuteronomy 33:26-29 are the very last words of Moses, the author of more biblical material than any other single human being. In these last words he confesses that there is no god like God. Isn’t that wonderful? Now if Moses could praise God like that, shouldn’t we do that too? We sing, “O, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise,” and yet the one tongue we have is so often silent. Moses spoke of the glory of God. May we do it too, and do it more and more as we go on in life and experience more and more of His glory and His grace. If we do that in life, then when our time comes to die, we’ll be able to testify of His grace and His glory even then.