Right and Wrong

The Gospel of Matthew Right and Wrong - Matthew 6:5-18 March 9, 2025 From 1998-2000, a comedy series called Kids Say the Darndest Things aired on television to take a light-hearted look at some of the funny and cute things that kids say. If you're old enough to remember some of those clips, they are quite funny. I wonder if there is a churchy version of this anywhere. Luckly for you, I found a list of Humorous Prayers of Young Children that reminded me of that TV show. I'll share only a few for you: "Dear God, I went to this wedding, and they were kissing right there in church. Is that OK?" "Dear God, thank You for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy." "Dear God, it must be super hard to love all the people in the world, especially my brother. I don't know how You do it." "Dear God, my Grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go? "Dear God, please take care of my daddy, mommy, sister, brother, my doggy and me. Oh, please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess." I think we'd have to admit, those are cute - and probably sincere - prayers, but what if I told you there is a right way to pray and a wrong way to pray? In part, that's what we'll see today. Jesus continues in His sermon on the mount discussion the right and wrong way to pray, and the right and wrong way to fast. Let's look at Matthew 6 this morning, beginning at verse 5: 5 "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. 6 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. 7 "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. 8 DO NOT BE LIKE THEM, FOR YOUR FATHER KNOWS WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU ASK HIM. 9 PRAY THEN LIKE THIS: "OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME. 10 YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. 11 GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD, 12 AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE ALSO HAVE FORGIVEN OUR DEBTORS. 13 AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. 14 FOR IF YOU FORGIVE OTHERS THEIR TRESPASSES, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER WILL ALSO FORGIVE YOU, 15 BUT IF YOU DO NOT FORGIVE OTHERS THEIR TRESPASSES, NEITHER WILL YOUR FATHER FORGIVE YOUR TRESPASSES. 16 "AND WHEN YOU FAST, DO NOT LOOK GLOOMY LIKE THE HYPOCRITES, FOR THEY DISFIGURE THEIR FACES THAT THEIR FASTING MAY BE SEEN BY OTHERS. TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR REWARD. 17 BUT WHEN YOU FAST, ANOINT YOUR HEAD AND WASH YOUR FACE, 18 THAT YOUR FASTING MAY NOT BE SEEN BY OTHERS BUT BY YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN SECRET. AND YOUR FATHER WHO SEES IN SECRET WILL REWARD YOU. I know that this passage is a familiar one for many of you. If you come from a different religious background, it is one that you have likely memorized. If that is the case, you may have noticed that this phrase is missing from the ESV and other modern translations: For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen This is simply a textual variant. The most reliable and oldest Greek manuscripts do not include this phrase, so the translators did not add it here. There is nothing wrong with the wording, nor would it be inappropriate to include this with the prayer. Jesus here continues the section from verses 1-4 on these disciplines. We spoke briefly on generosity last week, and He continues now with prayer and fasting. The first thing I want you to notice in both verse 5 and verse 16 is the word "WHEN." What does this tell us about these spiritual disciplines? Right! They are expected disciplines for the follower of Jesus. The challenge that we face here is that there is a right way to pray and fast, and there is a wrong way to pray and fast. So, what is this right way? Let's answer that in our main idea this morning which says: I rightly pray and fast when I put God first. Before we get into this a little more, let's define some terms. You may recall that we did a sermon series last summer on the practices of Jesus. In order to remain consistent with our definitions, here is what we said about those two disciples then. First, Pastor Pat defined prayer this way: Prayer is the intentional, conversational engagement of my heart and soul with the heart and soul of God. Then, a week later, I defined fasting like this: Fasting is simply going without food in order to seek God for some special reason. And as we stated then, and we repeat this morning, these two disciplines are expected. So, we return to the question, "is there a right way and a wrong way to pray and fast?" The answer, friends, is "yes." What we'll do this morning is focus on this question, using the words of Jesus to answer them. First what is ... * THE RIGHT WAY TO PRAY? First, I pray ... o Sincerely and privately (vv.5-6) * Immediately, Jesus uses one of His favorite words (hypocrite) to describe the wrong way to pray. * He states here that these hypocrites stood in the synagogues or the street corners to pray * Noteworthy, in the Jewish culture, there were prescribed times to pray in the day. So, if someone during that prescribed time was not at the synagogue, they would stop in their tracks and would pray where they were. * Now, this does not seem like a bad thing, does it? * So, what's the problem? That phrase in the middle that states "THAT THEY MAY BE SEEN BY OTHERS" * Evidently, that was the reason they were praying on the street corners. * It all comes back to motivation. Asking the question: What is your purpose for prayer? * So, how do we not fall into the trap of this? * The answer is found in verse 6 - pray in private. The ESV says to go to your room. The KJV says to go to your closet. * The Greek word "room" was used for a storeroom where treasures were kept. This reminds us that there are treasures waiting for us in our prayer closet. * It's also a picture for us to seek solitude, so we do not lose focus. * So, we are called to pray sincerely and privately. * So, what is the right way to pray? * Gratefully, Jesus tells us exactly how in what's commonly known as "The Lord's Prayer" or "The Disciples Prayer." * I prefer to look at it as a model prayer. Why? Because of Jesus words: PRAY THEN LIKE THIS * The "like" means that this prayer is not meant to be repeated word for word, as some do. In fact, I find it somewhat ironic that this prayer is repeated over and over even though verse 7 tells them not to DO NOT HEAP UP EMPTY PHRASES, which means to avoid "mindless, mechanical repetition" * As we look closer at this prayer, we can break it into two parts. * First, as we pray, we ... o Begin with adoration (vv.9-10) * Maybe you've seen the acronyms that help us to remember how to pray. * Like ACTS: (adoration // confession // thanksgiving // supplication) or one of my new favorites: * TACO: (thanksgiving // adoration // confession // others) * Or simply how Pat put it back in July: * Think God > others > me * In Jesus' model, He is giving us six petitions to bring before God the Father. * The first three begin with God, a prayer glorifying God - beginning first with His name, then His kingdom, then His will * In short, this means we begin with acknowledging who God is, then with a prayer that His kingdom is advanced, here on earth, then finally with another acknowledgment, this time of His will. o This part of the prayer is to acknowledge to God that He knows what is best, and we are surrendering to that, recognizing our need to be conformed to it. * Jesus is simply stating that our prayer should begin with God. Then, and only then, we may ... o Continue with petition (vv.11-13) * There are three requests to our Father. * Daily bread * Forgiveness, and * Keep us from falling into temptation * These are still acknowledgements of God's will and purpose for us. * When we pray for our daily bread, it is a confession in our need for His provision. This phrase can easily be understood to mean our daily needs. * When we're asking for forgiveness, we are asking to be more like Him. * We acknowledge that we have fallen short of His mark * Verse 12 is a prayer of restoration. When we sin, we break fellowship with God. This prayer of forgiveness aligns us with Him. And notice that the expectation is that we repay that forgiveness with forgiveness. * Wiersbe said: "if we have truly experienced God's forgiveness, then we will have a readiness to forgive others." * Let's face it. It's not easy to forgive those who have wronged us. * I'm reminded of ... "A man who was telling his friend about an argument he'd had with his wife commented, 'Oh, how I hate it, every time we have an argument; she gets historical.' The friend replied, 'You mean hysterical.' 'No,' he insisted. 'I mean historical. Every time we argue she drags up everything from the past and holds it against me!' * It's not easy to let go, is it? Jesus isn't telling us to forget, but He is saying we must forgive. Why? Because we have been forgiven. * Then, Jesus models a prayer of protection over temptation. * Some have misunderstood this prayer to mean that God tempts us, but we know from the Scriptures that is not the case. James 1:13, for example, tells us this. * This phrasing is a prayer to be delivered from temptation, be strengthened through temptation, and to be led to righteousness. So, Jesus tells us that there is a right way to pray. One that is not empty or repetitive, rather it is sincere and God-focused. Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, this instruction on prayer from Jesus is in no way dismissing public prayer, as He Himself would be guilty - along with His Apostles - of public prayer. There are obvious moments when public prayer is appropriate, He is simply warning about the heart. Then, Jesus gives us a lesson on the ... * THE RIGHT WAY TO FAST ... in verses 16-18. To summarize this, He says that we are to ... o Keep it between me and God (v.18) * Evidently, these religious people, when they fasted, made sure everyone knew it. * This completely misses the point of biblical fasting. * As mentioned previously, we did teach on this topic last July and made some observations of why we should fast. Notably, we mentioned that ... * we should fast to strengthen our prayers, and * we should fast to deny ourselves, and * we should fast to seek God's guidance * When we fast, we are denying our own physical needs and desires and shifting our attention and our hearts to God. * We connected biblical fasting to the abstinence of food - a basic need for all living beings - so, when we remove that from our lives, when that need for food arrives, we shift that need to God. The One who said back in Matthew 4:4 that MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.' * Have you noticed that these three disciplines (generosity, prayer and fasting), include a note of secrecy? * That is for our own good. * Once again, it takes our focus off ourselves and onto God. * You may have also noticed that there is a plurality of pronouns in this prayer. * Calling Him Father acknowledges the family aspect of our faith. * It also affirms what Pat taught on back in July, that the order of prayer begins with God, then others, then us. * As Jesus continues to teach the greatest ethics class of all time in this Sermon on the Mount, we are reminded again and again being a disciple of Jesus means we are continually denying self for the good of others, and for the good of the kingdom of God. To summarize, as our main idea states, I rightly pray and fast when I put God first. As we close, I want to encourage you to check your heart. This whole section reminds us that when we give, pray, and fast with our hearts aligned with God's, then the attitude of our lives reflects His heart. At least that's the goal. An unknown author put it this way ... * I cannot say "our" if I live for myself. * I cannot say "Father" if I do not endeavor each day to act like His child. * I cannot say "who art in Heaven" if I am laying up no treasure there. * I cannot say "hallowed be thy name" if I am not striving to live holy. * I cannot say "Thy kingdom come" if I am not doing all I can to hasten it. * I cannot say "Thy will be done" if I am disobedient to His Word. * I cannot say "on earth as it is in Heaven" if I'll not serve Him now. * I cannot say "give us this day our daily bread" if I am dishonest. * I cannot say "forgive us our debts" if I harbor a grudge against others. * I cannot say "lead us not into temptation" if I deliberately place myself in its path. * I cannot say, "deliver us from evil" if I don't put on all the armor of God. Let the heart of the Lord guide you, and may we surrender to His will. Let's pray. 2