The Secret Life of the Believer pt. 2

The last time we were together we began a new section looking at the sermon on the mount, I’m calling this section “The Secret Life of the Believer”. Jesus teaches that there are three secret areas of a believer’s life that perfectly fine. These areas are:

Alms

Prayer

Fasting

Tonight we focus on the secret life of prayer. Next time we’re together we’re going to look at how we should pray, tonight’s message is centered around “why” we should pray. Read these verses with me Matthew 6:5-7

Matthew 6:5–7 (KJV 1900)

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Just like with alms giving, there are three areas we must confront. First is...

The Internal Desire - Motives...

Notice the warnings in these verses. There are two groups of people we are told not to be like:

Hypocrites

Again, this is the Greek word for actor

An actor is one who pretends to be something they are not

Jesus warns of those who would abuse opportunity for prayer to pretend to be spiritually

Jesus makes mention of these hypocrites who pray because they “love” to be seen. They make a big deal of being noticed, you can find them...

Standing in the synagogue.

It was considered and honor in Jesus day to be asked to pray at the front of the Synagogue

Many evidently took the opportunity to draw attention to themselves, instead of to God

No doubt there was an unspoken competition, to see if you could “out pray” the person who prayed last week. Then were those who loved to be seen praying while...

Standing in the corners of the street.

There were certain times in the day that the trumpets would sound, making everyone aware that sacrifice was being offered and that prayer should be made.

Most sincere Jews would stop what they were doing and pray in the streets when these announcements were made.

Let it be known, public prayer is not the issue!

The Issue is why are you praying?

There were some, evidently, who would use this time to draw even more attention to themselves, dragging out their prayers, waxing eloquent in them. Trying to publicly demonstrate how holy they were.

Again, Jesus knows your heart!

Don’t be like the hypocrite, trying to gain the favor of men!

That is what they wanted

That is what they got!

*I’m reminded of a dear friend of mine who whlie in college was also trying to raise support for his mission. He called every pastor in the Winston-Salem, King, and Walkertown area and arranged meetings with them. He shared a story once of a local pastor who took him up on an offer to have lunch and discuss his mission plans. They went to Dario, and placed their order on a crowded day. When they went to the table my friend asked if the pastor would ask the blessing, to which he agreed. Now, my friend was not prepared for what happened next! The pastor stood up in his chair, and began praying at the top of his lungs for God to, not only bless the food, but that everyone in earshot that was a sinner would repent and get saved!*

There is nothing wrong with praying that. There is something wrong with praying like that , there.

Next he warns - don’t be like the....

Heathen

The word heathen means “gentile” and refers to polytheists

The Romans and the Greeks were polytheistic, as were many of the ancient Eastern cultures

These heathen cultures, who adhered to a plethora of many gods, would go to great lengths to ensure their prayers were heard and answered.

For instance, they would call all the gods they worshipped by name

They would list their requests to each of them individually

They would repeat the process in hopes that if they said it often enough and loud enough and to enough of their gods, one of them would answer!

When we pray, we are to bring our requests to God, and that is the only basis for our prayers being answered that is necessary.

God hears us when we pray

We do not have to fight for His attention

There is nothing wrong with repeating requests until we have our answer.

I want to reiterate, Jesus was not condemning public prayer here, rather the attitude of drawing attention to yourself while praying. He is also not condemning praying through a list, or repeating requests daily. When we pray we pray in faith, knowing that God hears and will answer our prayers. Just make sure your heart is in the right place. Next we see...

The External Display - Practice...

Matthew 6:6 KJV 1900

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

I want to quickly summarize this verse’s teaching by revisiting my illustration of the pastor praying in Dario. I am not questioning that brother’s heart. He may have meant every word he said. I’m certain he truly wanted to see those people he prayed for to be saved. I am afraid, however, that he just succeeded in drawing attention to himself.

Listen, Jesus wants us to pray like that pastor did…just not publicly.

Jesus told His followers “when” - its an expectation. “When you pray, enter thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door...”

The closet was an inner chamber of a house. Typically they were used for storage…like a closet is today! This symbolized the necessity of a secret place of prayer.

I’m not suggesting you go home and clean out a closet, but rather that you set aside each day a time and a place that you can “shut out” everything around, all distractions, and just pray! It is in this time that you can call out people by name, it is in this time that you can be as loud as you want. It is in this time that you can talk with God as if He is in the room with you....because He is.

This brings us to our final point tonight...

The Eternal Devotion - Acceptance...

Someone has said “The secret to prayer, is praying in secret.”

God knows the motives of your heart and if your heart’s desire is to be seen of others, if that is the only reason you’re praying then you have your reward.

However, if your desire in prayer is to spend time with God, to call out to Him, to bring your requests to Him, to beg Him to move in your midst, to save your loved ones, to meet your needs, to give you wisdom, to help you grow in your walk with Him…that will be done in secret. God will see it, and God will answer your need.

Conclusion:

Recently it was brought to my attention that evening services used to begin with a time of prayer. Men would gather together in one room and women in another. I like that. I would like to see that happen again. See I believe God moves in response to our prayers. I believe in the power of prayer. I believe our time is almost over, and I want us to get serious in these last days. Maybe I’m selfish, but before I die or before the rapture takes place, I would love to see a move of God in this world!

Next Sunday is Easter. I will be preaching a strong gospel message based on the empty tomb. I have said many times lately that I would love to see this church filled with guests. I am asking again that you consider inviting as many lost loved ones to church next Sunday. I also want to ask you to pray for me as I prepare this message. Pray for souls to be saved. Pray for the Holy Ghost to fill this place and for God to move in our midst.

Pray, and keep on praying.