Practice of Prayer - How not to Pray

Introduction

SotM

Kingdom Manifesto

This section: Practices

Giving, Prayer, Fasting

Jesus emphasizes what is done in secret

He warns us against doing ‘religious things’ to be seen by others

Today (and next week) we are going to be talking about prayer

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 6:5–8 (CSB)

“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.

Praying like the Gentiles

Prayer is not just a religious exercise, it is about a relationship

Jesus warns against praying like the Gentiles

And many of these ways are deeply ingrained in our habits

Incantation - Using the Same Words

Lord, Father God, etc.

Prayer Voice - Changing your tone

Christian Lingo - Empty Words

For your glory, We surrender to you

Sports prayer - I pray everyone has a good time, that no one gets hurt, and that we honor you

We aren’t using magical words to get God to answer us

We aren’t relying on methods or formulas

But true power in prayer comes from a real relationship

From actually speaking to God, the creator

No story encapsulates this teaching quite like the story of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:17-46

And NT - Sons of Sceva

Acts 19:11–17 (CSB)

God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, so that even facecloths or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.

The real power of prayer is found in God not in saying the right magic words

By faith, we are actually speaking to the creator of the universe

That has all power and loves us deeply

So what Jesus has been centering on this whole sermon and even now is integrity

We are the same whether people are looking or not

So today its specifically in the area of prayer

Integrity of Prayer

Here Jesus is exposing the religious leaders that would pray in public to be seen:

Matthew 6:5 (CSB)

“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.

Jesus is not saying that we shouldn’t pray in public but he is saying that it cannot be our primary way of prayer

That each follower of Jesus/citizen of the kingdom has a deeply personal prayer life that permeates through all aspects of their lives; public and private

So Jesus tells his followers:

Matthew 6:6 (CSB)

But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And again this is not just a teaching of Jesus, this is how Jesus lived his life:

Mark 1:32–37 (CSB)

When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed. The whole town was assembled at the door, and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying. Simon and his companions searched for him, and when they found him they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

Luke 5:15–16 (CSB)

But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.

Luke 6:12 (CSB)

During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.

And we know Jesus often prayed in public but that wasn’t the basis of his prayer life

Jesus had a deeply personal and intimate prayer life that none of us (not even his disciples) knew about

Again: Life vs Lifestyle of Jesus

So a question is raised: How do we develop a prayer life like Jesus?

Praying like Jesus

Here Jesus gives us some practical wisdom on prayer

Deep down prayer is anchored in relationship

Pray in secret (We need an individual relationship)

Don’t babble on (We actually speak to the person we are talking to)

Prayer in Secret

One of the most important aspects of our prayer life is consistency

We regularly make time to pray to God (one-on-one)

This is true of any relationship we have with another person

If you only spend group-time with people you can only get to know them so much

To grow in any relationship there needs to be time that’s one-on-one to spend together

Our prayer life find its foundations and core in our alone time with God

This is why people are often afraid to pray in public

Or why people sound awkward when they pray in public

They often do not have a foundation of prayer when no one is looking

As people of integrity our prayer life and ongoing conversation with Jesus should be the same whether we are around people or not

This type of prayer requires faith

That we aren’t just speaking to an empty room

But that we are speaking to the living God

That even though no one else is in the room

We know that God is present

And as we grow in faith, we grow in the depth of our prayer life

Dangers of Babbling On

At sometimes we don’t know what to say so we keep on talking and talking

Prayers don’t have to be long

You don’t have to be afraid because you don’t sound eloquent

Jesus’s prayer in the garden

Prayer as conversation: talking/listening

Relationships - imagine a friend always babbling on

Babbling/”Thoughtless Repetition” NASB

Praying without thinking

Just saying words

“Bless this food, may it strengthen and nourish our bodies”

“Dear Heavenly Father”

“Protect us keep us safe, help us to all have fun”

prayer acronyms

Or even just a haze of babbling words

do you trust someone if you ask them the same thing over and over

Not just say we will pray, actually do it

Jesus says this is not the way to pray:

Because the Father knows what we need before we even ask him

Prayer is deeply relational

Why we feel guilty - Prayer is relational - Friend example

There is a reward for those who pray in secret

Whose prayer life is grounded in a relationship with God and not just to be seen by others

Jesus teaches us to pray to our father

What we think of someone changes how we talk to them

Justin Nguyen - Finance Bro

What we think of God changes how we talk to him

Genie

Angry God

Distant God

But God is our loving father

Conclusion

Teaching on prayer - feel guilty

It’s not meant to condemn you

I want to encourage you, pray!

Small things

Big things

In the middle of conversations

Examen (Pray through your day)

Throughout the day (instead of phone)

God listens