Connecting with God through Prayer

Jesus’ brief teaching on prayer tells us several things.

Prayer is…

Presumed (5, 6, 7, 9)

In other words, it’s expected. Jesus expects that we will pray. Three times in this passage, Jesus says “when you pray” (5, 6, 7) and then even includes a command to pray stating “pray then like this….”(9).

Prayer is our means of connecting and communicating with God. It provides the outlet through which we can express our deepest needs, longings, and desires to the Sovereign God of the universe. Prayer is presumed because like Pascal has said “there is a God-shaped void inside each of us.”

While it may be expected, it is also learned. We learn so much by the example of others - parents, mature brothers and sister in Christ, leaders. In Luke’s discussion of Jesus teaching on prayer, he begin by noting how the disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4). We can read and hear stories of people who we know to be great prayer warriors and be utterly intimidated.

Martin Luther could pray 3 hours a day

George Mueller prayed with such faith that miracles happened.

Adoniram Judson would steal away from his activities 7 times each day to pray. (Foster)

We can learn from these people and be inspired, but we should not be intimidated.

The disciples had grown up praying, but still wanted to learn how to do it better - so they asked Jesus to teach them.

But in addition to being presumed or expected, Jesus says that prayer is intended to be…

Private (5-6)

As he teaches his people how to pray, Jesus contrasts the genuine prayer that he intends with the prayers of two different groups of people - religious hypocrites and Gentiles or pagans.

He urges that prayer be private in contrast to the public acclaim that the religious hypocrites garnered.

Matthew 6:5–6 ESV

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Throughout the sermon on the mount, Jesus has been challenging people to question the traditional wisdom and counsel of the religious elite. He repeatedly said “you have heard that it was said” and then countered that with, “but I say to you.” In prayer too, he challenges his followers to avoid praying like these religious elites. It seems that their pattern would be to conveniently end up in the most public places at various times of prayer. So much of their motivation was wrapped up in optics. In Matthew 23, Jesus lays out several woes regarding the Pharisees. This issue of prayer is part of that.

But in Jesus, we find him repeatedly going away for extended periods of time to pray.

Mt. 14:23/Mark 6:46 - after feeding 5000 - went up to the mountain alone to pray

Mt. 26:36/Mark 14:32, 38 - in Gethsemane

Luke 5:16 - Luke states that it was his pattern to go to desolate places to pray

Luke 6:12 - he prayed all night prior to choosing the apostles

Luke 9:28 - on the mount of transfiguration with Peter, James, and John - to pray

Luke 11:1 - though he was with his disciples, Jesus was in a certain place praying

I think Jesus point here is that when we pray, we need to be careful not to do it in order to be seen, but rather in private.

What about public/pastoral prayers? Does this mean we shouldn’t have any public prayers? No, I don’t think that’s what Jesus is getting at here. Throughout scripture, we find public prayers. Jesus even has a few of those. In John 17 - we have what many have called his high priestly prayer. This is a rare opportunity that we have of hearing/seeing what Jesus prayed. In John 11:41-42 - we actually have a moment where Jesus is in a public place at the tomb of Lazarus and he prays aloud in order to be heard.

John 11:41–42 ESV

So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

It seems that Jesus is making a point rather than trying to garner praise. Right after this he called for Lazarus to come out. He wanted people to know that His power came from God and not from any other source.

This ended up being a bit of a turning point for many of his opponents a they began to scheme with greater vigor how they might kill him - and kill Lazarus.

So, I don’t think that public prayers are out of order - but I do think that when we have opportunities to pray in public, whether here are church, at home around the dining table or in family worship, or even at public events, we need to be mindful about the attitude of our hearts. Am I secretly hoping that you’ll be in awe of my profound prayers when I pray on Sundays? I hope not.

So, in this teaching, Jesus not only tells us that prayer is presumed and intended to be a private conversation between us and God, thirdly, prayer is also intended to be…

Personal (7, 8)

It seems that the Gentiles or pagan people would pray rote, mindless prayers.

Matthew 6:7–8 ESV

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I mentioned in the midweek email that I listened to the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi. It is essentially his testimony of movement from being a devoted Muslim to becoming a follower of Jesus. There were several things that made his movement profound - his inquisitive intellect, a strong friendship with a believer, his search for the truth and prayer. As a Muslim, he would pray at certain times during the day and would often pray certain prayers. They would be repetitious prayers when he was following the religious expectations and patterns. Even throughout the book as he recounted some of those prayers and patterns, he would say things in arabic (and then often translate them into english) with such speed that it seemed to be perfunctory. But at some of his lowest and most desperate points, he prayed very personal and specific prayers. He asked for dreams and visions. He asked for answers. He even asked for time to mourn. God heard his prayers and answered.

Last week we talked about praying in light of what we’ve read and meditated on. I think this is a helpful practice as we are allowing God’s Word to guide our prayers. It keeps us from praying rote and familiar things - “Lord be with…” or “guide” so and so. When we are pouring our hearts out to God, may we come with reverence and awe and humility and with our own words, guided by scripture.

Right on the heels of countering the self-promoting prayers of the pharisees and the empty phrases of the Gentiles, Jesus gives the disciples a sort of model by which the disciples can follow. Essentially, he is saying that prayer can be…

Prim (9-15)

or orderly. Let’s consider this in a little different translation.

Matthew 6:9–13 NET

So pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

In many ways, it seems like this model prayer is more about attitudes of the heart than it is about a specific order or outline. The model that Jesus laid out for us suggests that our prayers should begin with an attitude that is…

Exultant (9)

(hands up)

Last week, in the acronym P.R.A.Y. - we looked at prayer beginning with praise. In coming before God in this way, we are coming seeking His glory and His praise. There is an interesting dichotomy that we get to experience - we are invited to talk to God as Father and yet honor him as the Sovereign God of the universe. In doing so, we come asking that God’s fame and renown be magnified.

Piper notes in his book Providence

“The fact that Jesus doesn’t just command us to revere God’s name, but tells us to pray that it be revered shows that God is the decisive cause in the glorification of God. We are praying that God would cause us and others, to revere God.” (p. 189)

It’s as though every prayer that we pray begins with the recognition that God is the all-sufficient, Sovereign over all things who will be glorified and has the power to accomplish all that He desires. He is the source of life.

The attitude of our hearts echos that of the Psalmist to seeks God’s glory alone

Psalm 115:1 ESV

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

In coming to God in an exultant way that seeks for His glory to be magnified, our natural response is to bow low, recognizing that we are…

Subservient (10)

(knees down)

or with humility.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

We can recognize that what is down here has fallen afar from God’s perfect intention. We come humbly seeking that what happens in heaven would happen here.

The Psalmist again provides an interesting perspective:

Psalm 123:1–2 ESV

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.

As Jesus progresses through this model prayer, we come to the recognition that we are…

Dependent (11)

(hands out)

“Give us this day our daily bread”

When we are dependent, we recognize that everything we have is from God. He is Yahweh Jireh - our provider.

In lean times, maybe this is an opportunity to plead and ask for aid. “God you are my provider, please provide. You know where I need ______. If that is not what I need, then help me to be content with what you have provided.”

In times where resources abound, maybe this is a time of praise. We can say along with David:

Psalm 16:6 ESV

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

John Piper has said…

“When we humble ourselves like little children and put on no airs of self-sufficiency, but run happily into the joy of our Father’s embrace, the glory of His grace is magnified and the longing of our soul is satisfied.” (p. 159-160)

Another element to this model prayer is an attitude that is…

Repentant (12)

(bowed down, face down)

“forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Here, we take a good, truthful look at our own sinfulness. It is interesting that in this model prayer, Jesus seems to make God’s forgiveness of us conditional on our forgiveness of others. It’s as though he is helping us to see that our relationship with God is connected with our relationship with each other. We can’t assume things are good vertically if they are not good horizontally.

Consider reading: Matthew 18:23–35. Parable of the unjust servant.

After finishing the whole prayer, Jesus seems to come back to this part of the prayer - that element of repentance and forgiveness, stating:

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

When we come to God repentant, it’s an opportunity for us to evaluate where we being unforgiving.

Those in the kingdom serve a great king who has invariably forgiven far more than they can ever forgive one another. Therefore failure to forgive excludes one from the kingdom, whose pattern is to forgive.

D. A. Carson

The final part of Jesus model prayer is that of being…

Obedient (13)

(standing humbly)

“lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

This is walking humbly with God, following where he leads, obedient to go where he directs, knowing that he is not going to lead us into evil.

In thinking through the order of this, there are so many different patterns that we can see:

ACTS - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication (ask)

PRAY - Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield

The Lord’s Prayer - as we have seen here - exultant, subservient, dependent, repentant, obedient

Other than Jesus’ teaching here, we don’t see this demonstrated in scripture. Even Jesus’ prayer in John 17 was quite a different format. The point is that we pray, recognizing God’s sovereignty and our poverty.

Closing Thoughts

Prayer is expected of us. God wants to commune with us and for us to commune with him through prayer.

It will take practice. Start briefly.

It will take patience. Just keep praying.

For me, there are some days when I find that I have to write out my prayers - maybe in a sort of short hand and sometimes in full sentences. Sure, my hand starts cramping, but in time it gets easier.

Some people have found praying the Lord’s prayer is helpful. For others, it can become empty words.

Elmer Towns, in his book Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough, briefly shared how he uses this prayer daily before getting out of bed.

“Our Father who art in heaven…may Your name be hallowed in my duties today…as Your name is hallowed in heaven.

Thy Kingdom come…may You reign in my life on earth as You rule in heaven

Thy will be done…in my studying…teaching…counseling…as Your will is done perfectly in heaven.

Give me daily bread…for my physical strength…for all my needs this day.

Forgive me my sins…and the consequences of my sins…including my actions and intent…and forgive others as You have forgiven me.

Lead me not into temptation…don’t let sin overwhelm me, but give me victory today.

Deliver me from the evil one…protect me from physical and spiritual harm.

(then he includes a benediction which was added in some later biblical transcripts)

For thine is the kingdom…I recognize your sovereign control of my life.

For thine is the power…I recognize your ability to do these things.

For thine is the glory…I give You credit for every answer.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Let’s pray.

Benediction:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

Read: Matthew 6:5-15.

What is prayer?

Why do we desire to pray?

How does Jesus want us to pray differently from the “hypocrites”? (vs. 5-6)

How does Jesus want us to pray differently from the “Gentiles”? (vs. 7-8)

How can we use the Lord’s Prayer to guide our prayers? (9-13)

Why is forgiving others so important to our prayer lives?

For the Children: (Dt. 3:13-14; Isaiah 9:6-7; Revelation 18; Psalm 22:3)

How should we treat God’s name? What does it mean to take His name in vain?

What are some names of God?

Sources:

Piper, John. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Sisters, OR. Multnomah, 2003.

Piper, John. Providence. Wheaton, IL. Crossway, 2020.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Towns, Elmer L. Praying the Lord’s Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough. Ventura, CA: Regal; Gospel Light, 1997.

Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. NavPress, 2014.

Whitney, Donald S. TEN Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. NavPress, 2001.