The Heart of Prayer

Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:5-8

Welcome

Welcome, everyone!

My name is Cassidy Hastings, and I’m one of the pastors here, and I’ll be sharing out of the Word this morning.

Seeking God in Prayer and Fasting Series

If you’ve been here for the past few weeks, you know that there have been some changes around here.

Last Sunday was Pastor Karl & his family’s last Sunday at SBC; quick update: they got their truck loaded yesterday (thanks to everyone who helped) and are on their way driving to IL

We have a search team that is looking for our next Lead Pastor

New school year starting tomorrow for public school & for TKA

As we enter this season of transition & changes, we want to do a 4-week series on “Seeking God through Prayer and Fasting”

There are a number of significant decisions that will be made in the coming months that will affect our church long-term, and we want to seek God for how He wants to lead us.

Over the next 4 weeks, we’ll be camping in Matthew 6:5-18, which is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

You’ll hear from me, Pastor Glen, and Pastor Rene as we see some of the things Jesus has to say first-hand about prayer & fasting.

Our hope is that we won’t just learn more about prayer & fasting as concepts over these 4 weeks but instead that we will collectively seek God together through prayer and fasting.

Opening Illustration

Opening question: Have you ever acted a certain way because you knew someone else was watching you?

Maybe as you’re lifting weights at the gym when you want to impress someone else there.

Or maybe as a student in class when the teacher is walking around the room.

I think one that many of us can identify with is when you’re driving, and you see a police car. Whether you’re speeding or not, what’s your first instinct? Brake and check the speedometer.

Our behaviors are largely affected by who is watching us.

But actions aren’t only affected by others; they reveal our heart

This is what Jesus is addressing in our text today: how people pray reveals their hearts.

He gives some negative examples that are contrasted with some instructions on how He says to pray instead.

His encouragement to His hearers is to care more about what God thinks than what others think, specifically when it comes to prayer

Big Idea: Pray because you are seen by your Father.

Context

Part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus Himself is unpacking what it looks like to live in the Kingdom of God in the real world.

He’s painting a picture for His hearers of what real-life scenarios look like under His rule…and it doesn’t look like what they’re used to

Especially in chapter 5, Jesus uses a lot of “you’ve heard it said…but I say to you…” contrasting language to emphasize how His teaching is different than what they’re used to

Then in Matthew 6:1, He gives a warning that acts as a thesis statement for the subsequent verses

He’s telling His hearers that “practicing your righteousness” for the praise of others is the wrong motive

Then He unpacks that in three areas associated with Jewish holiness and practice: giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting.

We’re going to pick up with what He says about prayer, but we’ll also see some similarities with some of the other sections as we go along.

We see Jesus looking at the heart of prayer from a couple of different angles.

1) The Horizontal Angle (vs. 5-6)

Vs. 5

“When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites”

“Hypocrites” is a word used for actors who play the part, but don’t mean what they say.

It’s people whose actions are disconnected from their heart.

We see this same word used in 6:2 (giving), here in 6:5 (prayer), and again in 6:16 (fasting).

In all of these cases, the “hypocrite” Jesus is referencing is someone who is going through the motions of the right external behaviors, but their internal motivation is about their reputation.

They’re fakers who are really only concerned about themselves.

Where are they? Standing in synagogues & praying at street corners

Being in the synagogue meant that they were part of the people of God. They were Jews who wanted to be seen.

The group that comes to mind the quickest is the Pharisees--highly pious Jews who wanted others to see how religious they were, but it really could be any Jew who had this heart motivation.

Synagogues in the first-century usually were good places to be if you wanted to be around people, but street corners were another good place with high traffic.

“Where are there a lot of people? That’s where I want to go.” or “It just so happens that it’s time to pray, and I find myself in these crowded places.”

We’ll see that ultimately Jesus isn’t condemning their location. There’s nothing wrong with praying in the synagogue or on a street corner

What Jesus is calling out is their motives.

“That they may be seen by others”

Like with the word “hypocrites,” we see this motive repeated in 6:2 (giving), here in 6:5 (prayer), and 6:16 (fasting)

Ultimately, these people don’t care about what God thinks; they are exclusively focused on what other people think & say about them.

Their prayers may sound directed to God, but their hearts are directed towards others.

Illustration of Wemmicks in You Are Special by Max Lucado?

The hypocrites are the Wemmicks who want all the stars

What does Jesus say their reward is?

“Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”

He says that they get what they want…the praise of others.

If they want stars from others, that’s what they’ll get.

If they want recognition from men for giving, for prayer, and for fasting, they’ll get it.

God’s not even in the picture, and they don’t even care.

So if the hypocrites are how His disciples shouldn’t pray, what’s the right heart they should have?

Vs. 6

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door”

The word for “room” can mean storeroom, but the thing that made it unique is that it had a door. Many rooms in homes in the first-century didn’t have doors. Jesus is saying not just a home and not just an inner room, but a room with a door.

If the street corner was about as public as you can get, a room with a closed door is about as private as you can get.

You’re away from the eyes of people outside the house, but you’re even away from the eyes of people inside the house.

But as before, it’s less about the location and more about the heart.

It’s here, away from the observation of others, that Jesus says to pray

“Pray to your Father who is in secret.”

The wording here is a bit different than when Jesus talks about giving in 6:4 & the sentence that follows where it says “your Father who sees in secret”

This is saying “your Father who is in secret” (repeated about fasting in 6:18)

What does Jesus mean by this?

In one sense, God is everywhere, which means He’s equally present in the synagogue, on the street corners, and in the storeroom.

However, what this is saying is that God is with someone whose heart is right in a way that He isn’t with someone who is seeking the praise of men.

God is in the secret, in the quiet place. In the stillness He is there. In the secret, in the quiet hour He waits for us because He wants us to know Him more.

So is God hiding in the closet where we have to hopefully find Him? No.

But even in the isolation from everyone else, behind the closed door of the storeroom, the Father is with the person who is praying with the correct motivation.

And like a loving Father does, He wants to reward His children.

“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you”

Once again, we see repetition in 6:4 (giving), here in 6:6 (prayer), and 6:18 (fasting)

The hypocrites' eyes are fixed on others.

The Father’s eyes are fixed on those with the right motives.

Nothing escapes His gaze.

What’s the reward?

The text doesn’t specify the exact reward, but it does contrast it with the “reward” of the hypocrites

The hypocrites get the praise and approval of others

The person with the right heart gets communion with God

One commentator says, “God Himself is the reward of Christians.”

It’s the presence and approval of God, not men, that this person is enjoying.

You either get the praise of men or the relationship with your Father; you can’t get both.

Because you are seen by your Father in secret, you don’t need to be seen by others in public.

Jesus not only addresses prayer from a horizontal angle; He also looks at it from a vertical one

2 The Vertical Angle (vs. 7-8)

Vs. 7

“Do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do”

ESV…“do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do”

NASB…“do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do”

NIV…“do not keep on babbling like pagans”

In vs. 5, Jesus is addressing hypocrites in primarily Jewish contexts

In vs. 7, Jesus is referencing non-Jewish people (Gentiles or pagans) who were praying to their gods

Many non-Jewish people during this time believed in the existence of many gods (remember Paul in Athens when he found an altar “to an unknown god?”)

Their prayers were characterized by wordiness and repetition

What’s the goal of this wordiness & repetition? The attention of the gods

“for they think that they will be heard for their many words”

Heard by whom? By others or by God?

The Gentiles as described here aren’t concerned about the horizontal gaze of others; they are attempting to grab the vertical attention of their gods.

In order to do this, these people would say lengthy and repetitive prayers.

It’s almost like this idea that there are a number of gods who are really busy, and in order to get the help you need, you need to constantly say all their names and repeat yourself until you catch one of their ears.

We see this with a lot of world religions today: your ability to be heard by God is dependent on the specific formula of how you pray.

Jesus isn’t condemning the length or repetition of prayer; it’s about the heart of the one praying, and Jesus is calling out their motives

These motives can be present just as much in his hearers as in the pagan people around them.

And as before, He contrasts this with His instructions and reminds His hearers of the personal knowledge of their Father

Vs. 8

“Do not be like them”

I love the simplicity of this command

“Yeah, don’t do that”

But then He provides them with why they don’t need to do that

“For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

You don’t need to hopefully grab God’s attention; He’s more aware of your needs than you are!

You don’t have a distracted or skeptical Father who you have to remind of your needs through long, repetitive prayers; He’s not only aware of you, but He knows your needs before you do!

He is a loving Father who is always ready to help.

When you think of the vertical nature of your prayers, is it more like Shark Tank where you’re pitching your idea and hoping it’s accepted, or is it more like a kid coming up to their parents saying, “I’m hungry” only to hear them say “I already have dinner waiting.”

Pointing to Jesus/The Gospel

I don’t think it’s an accident that in both of the positive instructions Jesus gives in vs 6 & 8 that He uses the phrase “your Father” because He’s talking about His Father

For Jesus prayer is about connecting with His Father who loves Him and cares for Him, and He lived His whole life in that loving gaze.

There is no one who rests in His identity in the Father like Jesus Himself.

In His prayers, He didn’t seek the praise of men. He also didn’t pray super long, elaborate prayers with contractual expectations.

He enjoyed time with His Father

He trusted His Father to provide for His needs (Luke 22:42, 23:46)

This is the same love and attention that God gives all those who come to Him through His Son

It’s because of the Son’s perfect relationship with the Father that we can come to this same God and say, “Our Father.”

Prayer isn’t a transactional communication with a cold, annoyed divine being

Jesus is telling his hearers to rest in the love of their Heavenly Father.

Because we are seen by Him, we don’t have to find our reward in the praise of others.

Because we are seen by Him, we don’t have to hopefully convince Him to come to our aid.

Because of Jesus, we can pray because we are seen by our Father.

This is the heart of prayer Jesus desires for His people.

For Followers of Jesus

So how do we live this out?

Starts with being able to identify when we have the wrong heart

1) The Heart of the Hypocrite

Sounds like, “I need others to know how holy I am”

Examples

Changing my tone when I pray

Reading my Bible, praying, giving, etc. simply so I can tell others that I did that if it comes up in conversation…happens with Glen, Rene, & me; private prayers are motivated by our role, not our heart

Bringing up some theological point in conversation so others will be impressed with my Biblical knowledge

Identifying: Who do you picture in your mind when you think of these: Jesus or someone else?

Solution: Repent & believe the Gospel. Rest in Jesus’ love for you.

Saw a really good saying the other day on Tim Keller’s page: “If you have the smile of God, all other frowns (or smiles) are inconsequential.”

Because you are in Jesus, you have the smile of God, so you don’t need the praise of others.

2) The Heart of the Gentile

Sounds like, “I need the right formula to approach God”

Examples

Approaching prayer like a combination lock; if I don’t pray exactly like this, my prayers won’t work

Not praying because you don’t want to “bother God”

Saying the same prayers without meaning them (like the “God is great” blessing before a meal)

Identifying: How do you picture God’s expression when He thinks of you? Annoyed? Frustrated? Forgetful? Or excited, loving, & compassionate?

Solution: Repent & believe the Gospel

You can’t approach God in the right way, but He’s already approached you through His Son, and He accepts you because you’re in His Son. He knows you so well that He’s providing for needs you don’t even know you have yet.

Pray because you are seen by your Father.

For NYB

You may have a level of respect for prayer.

The reality is that God sees you, but He’s not yet your Father

Right now, you are separated from Him and not part of His family. You can’t connect with the Father like our text today describes because you haven’t yet come to Him through His Son.

But the good news is that God deeply desires for that relationship to change, and that only happens when you come to Him through His Son, Jesus.

It’s not based on how you pray or how you give or how you volunteer. It’s based solely on the person and work of Jesus and your response to Him.

Because of His great love for you, He sent His Son so that through faith in Him, you can enter into His family.

God sees you, and He wants you to approach Him not through your efforts, but through Jesus.

If you want to do that today, please talk to someone you came with or come speak with one of our Elders before you leave today.

Prayer Guides & Corporate Prayer

Passages like we looked at today often emphasize the individual nature of following Jesus, but we aren’t only saved to a personal faith.

When we respond to the Gospel with repentance and faith, we come into a new family.

Especially over these next 4 weeks as we seek God about what He has for SBC, TKA, our country, and our individual lives, we want to do that together as a church.

So over the next 4 weeks, we’re going to do that in 2 main ways.

Guided Prayer Handouts

Each week we’ll have a yellow handout that we will give to people in person at the worship gathering (and it will be available on Church Center, too)

There is a topic for each day with some specific things to pray for regarding that prayer item.

We’re encouraging people to put it in your Bible or on your fridge and commit to praying for these same things each day as a church family.

Every Thursday will be our joint fasting day.

I can’t go into a full explanation of fasting, and Pastor Rene will be preaching on it in 2 weeks, but a short definition is that fasting is temporarily denying ourselves a particular appetite so we can instead use that time to pray and increase our hunger for God. Check out the fasting tips on the back for ways you can’t fast from food.

You can also see some prayer tips listed there, too.

You can use this individually, but we want to highly encourage us to pray together in SGs, over the phone, etc.

Make sure you grab one on the way out today, and grab a new one over the next 3 weeks.

Let’s seek God together through prayer & fasting

Corporate Prayer

While the prayer guides will help us knit our hearts together and to God’s while we’re scattered, we also want to apply what we’re learning each week as we’re gathered.

So after the sermon each Sunday, we are going to have some time for prayer together as part of our worship gathering.

We’ll have Sunday’s prayer item on the screen

Break into small groups of 4-5 people and pray out loud together for these things.

Even if you’re a guest, please jump into a group

If you’re a NYB, you can jump in a group or if you want to respond to the Father through the Son, talk to someone who you came with or we’ll have some people to pray with at the end of the service

We’re going to do this during our 4-week Prayer & Fasting sermon series in addition to the prayer guides, and today’s focus for our group prayer is praying for the Lead Pastor Transition

Here are some specifics you can pray for

Pray for our church as we seek God’s will for the man who will lead our church moving forward.

Pray for wisdom and clarity for the Search Team, the Elder Team, and the SBC members during the process.

Pray against the spiritual opposition that can often come to families and churches in transition.

Go ahead and find one or two others to pray with, and we’ll spend some time praying for these things together.

When some time has gone by, I’ll pray.

Pray

Thank You that You’re a God who sees us

Thank You that You are a Father who already knows the needs of His children

We lift up this Pastoral Search

Thank You for the 7+ years of ministry with Karl & his family

We pray for the next Lead Pastor & his family…someone You know even if we don’t yet

We pray for wisdom for the Search Team, the Elder Team, and our members during this process

We pray against the opposition that can come to our next pastor, his family, and our church

We give You praise for all You have in store for us

Be with us as we are sent from here today, and may we continue in this attitude of prayer as we pray together this week

Even So Come