The Spiritual Discipline of Prayer

Two-Part Series on Spiritual Disciplines

Message One

August 4, 2024

Matthew 6:5-13.

ETS: Jesus taught the disciples to pray.

ESS: Christians should daily engage the spiritual discipline of prayer— communing with the Father.

OSS: [Devotional] {I want the hearers to commit to praying more frequently, more consistently.}

PQ:

How should we pray?

UW: Manners

Intro.: [AGS]: According to research conducted in the last ten years with about 25,000 participants, 68% of Christians in America say they pray at least daily. However, according to the research, people between the ages of 30-64 are the ones likely praying daily; females are more likely to pray daily/more frequently than males; and those with both lower incomes and lower levels of education are most likely to pray daily/most frequently. (https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/database/christians/christian/frequency-of-prayer/). [TS]: The text considered today recorded Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray. One of the perhaps most important words that appear in these verses is used in verse 5 and repeated in verse 6— Whenever/when (ὅταν)— this is a conjuction that functions as a temporal adverb. The implicaiton behind this rather significant conjunction is this: Disciples should be praying regularly. [RS]: Regarding both the statistics summarized and in the consideration of the conjunction used in the text— where do you fit? How often do you pray? A professor was once introducing a guest speaker to speak in class on the topic of prayer. In the introduction of the speaker, he said, “_______ believes in prayer so much they actually do it.” Do you believe enough in prayer that you actually do it? Do you understand what prayer is? Do you know how to pray? Prayer is man’s way of communicating with God.

TS: Let us examine a few manners which Jesus taught the disciples to pay attention to as they prayed.

We should pray sincerely. [vv. 5-7]

We should be careful to examine the motive(s) and posture of our hearts when we pray:

We should not be like the hypocrites: they live with a double standard

They are prideful, and they love to puff themselves up or draw attention to themselves.

To be sure, there was nothing wrong with praying on the corner of the streets or in the synagogue. It was common Jewish practice. However, instead of the literal physical places alluded to here, the meaning intended to be communicated is be careful of your motive and posture when you pray.

We should be careful to approach prayer with sincerity— single-minded approach.

This is communicated by Jesus mentioning the private room. The focus here is not so much on the literal, physical place as much as the posture of our heart. The goal of prayer is to commune with God— not to be noticed by people. Thus, the importance of the private room is the ability to commune with God without distraction.

We should be careful to not seek to impress God with our words.

God knows our heart and our needs, so there is no need for us to babble on and on to be noticed by God.

We should pray confidently. [v. 8]

We have a confidence in approaching God in prayer because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.

Hebrews 4:14–16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”

We don’t have to worry about being noticed by others when we are confident that our Father has already taken note of us.

We approach His throne confidently— boldly— because of what Jesus has done for us.

We should pray invitingly [vv. 9-10]

Firstly, we acknowledge that Jesus initiated and invited us into a new relationship with God— one where He is known as personal Father.

This was different for the Jews because they would not have been accustomed to speaking to God personally for fear of offending His holiness.

Secondly, we acknowledge that we invite Jesus to establish His rule and reign in our hearts as we pray.

Your name be honored as holy— we invite God’s whole being to be honored in our lives. He is holy, so our lives should represent His holiness.

Your Kingdom come— we invite God’s Kingdom to rule in our hearts

Your will be done— we invite God’s will to be done in our lives instead of our own

On earth as it is in Heaven: This surrenders any feelings of dread surrounding God’s will for our lives and embraces His will with delight.

We should pray expectantly. [vv. 11-13]

We expect God to provide.

Give us this day our daily bread.

This is reminiscent on the days in the Exodus when God provided manna for the Israelites (Exodus 16:16–22 “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’ ” So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat. Moses said to them, “No one is to let any of it remain until morning.” But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Therefore Moses was angry with them. They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.”)

We should expect God to forgive us and for us to forgive others.

Attached to this, though, is not a hypocritical, selfish greed that holds His forgiveness only for oneself. It is a commitment to extend that which has been expeirenced. Because God has forgiven us, we commit to forgive others. (Experience —> Extend)

We should expect God to deliver us.

God is not the tempter. James 1:13–17 “No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

God is the deliverer who delivers us from the power of sin, death, hell, and the grave into freedom, life, and heaven.

We should expect to praise God.

For Thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.

He is eternal. He is worthy of our praise. As we pray, we should certainly praise Him because of who He is and what He has done.

Response Questions:

[1] Do you understand what prayer is? Have you accepted the invitation into a personal relationship with God as Father? {evangelistic, for the unsaved}

[2] How often do you pray? {devotional, for the saved}

[3] Do your prayers embody these manners as you approach God in a personal relationship? {devotional, for the saved}

— Sincerity? For God alone or self and others?

— Confidently? Trusting God knows or needing to inform others?

— Invitingly? Yielding to God alone as Father seeking to do His will with delight or still needing God + something else?

— Expectantly? Relying on God for provision and expecting Him to act or still depending on self and thinking you can make it/prove yourself?