Prayer and Kingdom Citizens

Introduction: Kingdom Citizens PRAY. God’s people PRAY! Are you a praying Christian? Have you talked with God already today?

There is a children’s song entitled: Always Take Time to Pray

Here are the lyrics:

Always take time to pray,

Always take time to pray.

Morning and night and right through the day

Always take time to pray.

Always take time to pray.

Always take time to pray.

Jesus will drive your troubles away.

Always take time to pray.

I want to begin by sharing with you and acronym that I found for the word, PRAY:

P - Praise

R - Repent

A - Ask

Y - Yield

Each letter in PRAY serves as a reminder of a different aspect of prayer. "Praise" is a way to express gratitude and honor to God, "Repent" is an opportunity to confess sins and ask for forgiveness, "Ask" is a time to bring personal requests and intercessions, and "Yield" is an act of surrendering one's will to God's will.

The word “Pray” or “prayer” is used some 547 times in the Bible. There are over 650 prayers found in the Bible. And the Scripture records 25 prayers of Jesus.

Here in Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus is going to teach His Kingdom Citizens HOW TO PRAY.

Are you aware that according to Pew Research that 45% of all Americans say they pray daily, and that the majority of Christians, 65% say that they pray daily. Jews pray 3 times a day. Muslims pray 5 times a day. I have read that Syriac Coptic Christians pray 7 times a day (6pm, 9pm, 12am, 6am,9am, 12pm, 3pm). And what about the praying of all the world religions? The point is that people PRAY. And if people PRAY then surely Christians who have access to the one true God should be praying all the time (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Luke 18:1).

Lots of people PRAY, but do they know HOW TO PRAY? We want to learn HOW TO PRAY. So, then, are you ready to learn HOW TO PRAY? Here is what Jesus Christ taught His disciples.

I. Talk with God (Just Pray) – 6:5

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

Notice the words, “And when you pray,” Jesus took it for granted that His followers prayed.

What is prayer? It is communication with God. It is talking to our Creator. Prayer is not complicated! So, don’t make it complicated.

Next, Jesus says, that His Kingdom Citizens are not to be like the hypocrites – the play actors. No, when we pray, we are to be real. God can see right through us – into our hearts. Pray like you mean it, and you do! This is the point here.

Dr. David Jeremiah writes, “Standingdoes not merely describe the upright position of a person’s body. It also suggests striking a pose to gain attention. The Pharisees were committed to praying at set hours: at six, nine, twelve, and three o’clock. They arranged to be in the most public places at those times so they would be recognized for their commitment to God. Jesus is not condemning public prayer but prayer that is self-serving.” (The Jeremiah Study Bible).

Their reward according to Jesus was just what they did. The attention of the people who saw and heard them pray. They didn’t receive an answer from God concerning their prayer.

Talk with God but don’t be like the hypocrites. The point is that our conversation is to be directed to God alone. After all, we are talking with God.

II. Have a place where you talk with God – 6:6

6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

If we are not to pray (personal prayers) standing in the synagogue, and we are not to be praying on the corner of the street (places where we might draw attention to ourselves), then where? We are to have a secret place where we PRAY. Where might that be? It can be…

· A Bedroom.

· Your dining table.

· Inside your car (it can be a rolling sanctuary).

· At your office.

· Outside under the canopy of the heavens (go sit under a tree and talk with God).

· Anyplace where you are alone.

The best place would be a room with a door (you shut everyone and everything else out) – your secret place where you meet with God alone – just the two of you.

Do you have a special place where you meet with God? Find one – it can become your “SECRET PLACE”.

War Room

Do you remember the 2015 Christian film, War Room? That was a great film about an elderly woman “Miss Clara” (played by Karen Abercrombie) who had a prayer closet, and there she prayed, and she prayed mightily. She had her posted notes, and pictures of family and friends on her closet wall. She got down on her knees and did business. She was alone with her God.

Miss Clara’s closet was her SECRET PLACE.

Jesus told His followers that God who sees in secret will reward them openly. In other words, God will answer this type of praying.

When we pray, pray in secret, and God will answer our prayers!

III. Don’t use repetition when you talk with God – 6:7-8

7 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. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

What is vain repetition? I would call this rote praying. It is the prayers in which we just go through the motion without the devotion. Examples:

Children’s Bedtime Prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and if I should die before I wake, I pray the LORD my soul to take.

Mealtime Prayer:

Bless us, Oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord.

Thornton Jansma, one of my Bible college professors, and a Pastor who signed my Certificate of Ordination taught the following idea about prayer. He said, “When in public pray short, and when in private pray long.” A lot of people get these two ideas confused and they pray long in public and pray short in private.

However, when you pray, don’t babble on with so many words that even when you are done with your prayer you said a lot but there was nothing of substance uttered. Watch out for the thousand-word prayers.

God Knows Before We Pray

Don’t miss verse 8, for it teaches us that God knows what we need long before we even ask for it. So, if that is true, why PRAY? We pray because it shows our dependence upon our God. Prayer is more about me than it is about the Lord.

IV. Use the following Prayer model when you talk with God – 6:9-15

Jesus is going to provide his disciples a PATTERN for PRAYER. When you PRAY…

A. Address your Father in heaven – 6:9

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

See the words, “In this manner, therefore, pray:” They could also read, Pray like this…

This is a great way to start our praying – we acknowledge that God is our heavenly Father. I am so glad that I can call my Creator, my God, and my Father. God became a father to me when I was fatherless (Psalm 68:5). He is everyone’s Creator, but He is not everyone’s Father. He is only your Father if you have a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. If you know Christ as your Savior, then God is your Father (see John 14:6).

We are to worship our Father as we pray. The word “Hallowed” carries with it the idea of God’s holiness and His worthiness to be worshipped. Let us start our prayers with a worship service. We acknowledge God’s worthiness! Amen.

B. Ask for God’s will to be done – 6:10

10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

Pray for the coming Kingdom of God. Why? Because the kingdoms of men are corrupt and evil. Our world will continue to wax worse and worse – things are not going to get better. The evil we see all around us will not be a part of the Kingdom of God that is coming.

· Do you want justice? Pray for God’s Kingdom to come.

· Do you want Righteousness? Pray for God’s Kingdom to come.

· Do you want peace? Pray for God’s Kingdom to come.

· Do you want sanity? Pray for God’s Kingdom to come.

We are also to pray for God’s will to be done here on earth as it is carried out in heaven. O how I long to see God’s will done here. So many people are fighting God’s will for their lives.

We will never truly have heaven on earth until God’s Kingdom Comes, but if we would just seek to do His will here on earth (that part we know to be God’s will) we would experience a little bit of heaven on earth.

We all should seek to OBEY the truth we know! Don’t miss this.

C. Ask for your daily bread – 6:11

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

Where does my next meal come from? McDonalds? Red Lobster? No! My three squares a day come from God. I need to be ever mindful that it’s not my cash, or a credit card that feeds me. It is God who provides for all my needs.

As we pray, we should ask God to provide for our daily meals. Can you sense the daily dependence here that Jesus is teaching? It doesn’t say to ask for this week’s food, this month’s food, or even this year’s food, no, Jesus taught that we are to ask for our daily bread.

And when God provides your daily bread pause before you eat it and give Him thanks. Pray before your meals and acknowledge who it is that has provided it for you and your family.

D. Ask for forgiveness – 6:12

12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

We must remind ourselves to keep short accounts with God. When we sin, we must confess it (1 John 1:9), and we must repent (turn from it – Acts 3:19), and we must keep our eyes on the Lord (Hebrews 12:2). Next, we must also be willing to forgive those who have sinned against us. There is a lot of MUST’s here.

We are asking God to forgive us as we forgive others.

E. Ask to be protected from temptations – 6:13

13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Are you ever TEMPTED? Last summer I walked out of Walmart without paying for a watermelon in my cart. I had scanned everything, but the watermelon. When I got to my car, and I lifted the Watermelon from the cart a light came on in my brain – “I didn’t pay for this.” Right then temptation came. Walmart won’t miss one watermelon. After all, it’s only $ 4.95. What’s that to all the millions they make every day. No, my Christian character is more important than $ 4.95. I walked back in and paid for the watermelon

Temptation will come in many forms and in many ways. Such as: drug use, stealing, lying, fornication, laziness, gossip, disobedience. We must PRAY to be delivered, and we must pray to be kept from the evil one. For you see we are talking about being a part of God’s Kingdom, and we must live in the light of His power, and for His glory.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13,

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

V. How Prayer and forgiveness work together – 6:14-15

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

I want you to write in the margin of your Bible the words,

FORGIVEN to FORGIVE

If we can’t forgive those who trespass against us, how can we expect God to forgive us when we daily trespass against him? Being forgiven is based on our willingness to forgive others.

When was the last time you forgave another person? Do you remember what the trespass was about? What sin did that person commit against you? Now, do you recall the last trespass that you committed against God? Do you recall the last sin you confessed to God? Do you feel forgiven? If you answer yes, then you are obligated to extend that same forgiveness to those who trespass against you.

By the way, how many times are we to forgive someone who trespasses against us? Jesus taught 70 X 7 = 490 times (Matthew 18:21-22). What this means is that we are to keep on extending forgiveness. In the same way we want God to forgive us over and over again, so we are to forgive others over and over again.

Here is the point: Be quick to Forgive if we expect God to forgive us.

Conclusion: Allow me to review what we have looked at together in this chapter. Jesus taught us How Kingdom People PRAY. He said,

1. Kingdom people talk with God.

2. Kingdom people are not hypocrites when they pray.

3. Kingdom people pray in secret – go to your room, shut the door, and talk with God.

4. Kingdom people don’t use repetition when praying, but they do have a pattern when praying.

5. Kingdom people pray to their Father in heaven.

6. Kingdom people pray for God’s Kingdom to come, and for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

7. Kingdom people ask for their daily bread (and they give thanks before they eat).

8. Kingdom people ask for forgiveness from God and extend forgiveness to others.

9. Kingdom people ask to be delivered from temptation. We make no excuses here.

10. Kingdom people remember how forgiveness works – we have been forgiven, and so we extend forgiveness.