Re-Orienting Prayer

Well, good morning, everybody. It's good to be with all of you

If we have not met, my name is Stefan Wilson, I am the pastor of preaching here at Harvest

And I'm very grateful for Pastor Ron last week and his faithful handling of v. 1-4 of ch. 6.

Every time I am out of the pulpit and we have other men step in to preach, I am just reminded of what a gift it is to have capable, faithful men to preach God's word in our church

The word of God is central to the life of the church, and it is central to our gathering as the church.

And so every time we gather, we will open God's Word together, and we will sit under it and submit to it 

So as we come back to the Sermon on the Mount, let's come with a heart ready to sit under and surrender and submit to Jesus’s words.

We will be in Matthew 6 this morning

And if you didn't bring a Bible, there should be a Bible under a seat nearby, and you can meet us in Matthew chapter 6

Well, last week, we started a new section in the sermon on the mount -

v. 1 in ch. 6 is a summary statement where Jesus says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others, to be seen by them.”

And then what he does is he gives three examples of that: Giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting.

And in all three of these examples, the assumption is that we will do them [UNPACK]

But the issue Jesus is confronting is why we do them

Outside/Inside

Car-wash/Oil change

The neglect of the inside will ultimately lead to it effecting the outside in catastrophic ways

Outer life/Inner life

Serving, singing, small group, attending church every week

But neglecting prayer, solitude, reflection, confession

We neglect the cultivation of a heart of devotion to God

Over time, our neglect of the inner life will start to be visible in our outer life as well.

Keller quote

“If we give priority to the outer life, our inner life will be dark and scary. We will not know what to do with solitude. We will be deeply uncomfortable with self-examination, and we will have an increasingly short attention span for any kind of reflection. Even more seriously, our lives will lack integrity. Outwardly, we will need to project confidence, spiritual and emotional health and wholeness, while inwardly we may be filled with self-doubts, anxieties, self-pity, and old grudges. Yet we won't know how to go into the inner rooms of the heart, see clearly what is there, and deal with it. In short, unless we put a priority on the inner life, we turn ourselves into hypocrites.” - Tim Keller

Is that you?

Do you feel the need to project confidence, act like you’ve got it all together, like you were spiritually and emotionally healthy?

All the while inwardly you are filled with doubts and anxieties, self-pity, self deprecation, holding grudges?

It is likely due to a lack of prayer

Attending to the outside while neglecting the inner life

If we are to be truly spiritually healthy, truly whole as individuals and as a church family, we must prioritize prayer in our lives

And Jesus is going to show us what it looks like to do exactly that

So let’s give these words our full attention

Matthew 6:5–15 “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. “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. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their…”

These are God’s words for us as a church family

Big Idea: Kingdom-oriented people prioritize God-oriented prayer [7:00]

God oriented prayer is prayer that has God in mind, and because it has God in mind, it impacts the way that I pray and how I live as a result.

You see, too often, our view of prayer is that it's me-oriented. I come to God when I need something. I come to God when I want him to do something, I ask him to do that thing, or to give me that thing and that's the extent of it. That is me-oriented prayer.

But when we care about the Kingdom of God, our prayer will be God-oriented. It will have him in mind, and it will affect the way that we pray.

But this begs the question - WHAT EVEN IS PRAYER?

To answer that question, we need to be on the same page about how it is that God communicates with us

God speaks - through his word - breathed out

We hear from God through his word (we don’t hear from him outside of his word) - We are led by his spirit, convicted, directed, yes - God’s spoken word is found in Scripture

Then we respond through prayer - We breathe out from our hearts in response to what God breathed out from his

This is why, when asked what was more important, reading Scripture or praying, Charles Spurgeon replied, “Which is more important? Breathing in or breathing out?”

We breathe in the word of God as his speech, we breathe out prayers to God as our speech

That is the conversation - Word, prayer, Spirit applying the word

This is life in the Spirit

Prayer, then, is not a duty or a ritual, it is a response based on the truth of who God is

My definition of prayer: Prayer is the relational response of a heart shaped by God’s Word, expressing dependence on His power, delight in His presence, and alignment with His will.

Because of what God’s word says about him, I respond by coming to him in prayer according to what his word says.

Maybe you have never thought of prayer that way?

Maybe you have always seen distinction between prayer and God’s word

Often we think prayer is bringing our request to God, which is a part of prayer to be sure

But prayer is so much more than that

It is me coming to God because of all that he is in him

It is expressing my dependence on him

It is allowing him to change my heart so that I desire more and more what he desires for me

Book recommendation - Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney

But we all need to be on the same page that prayer is not optional, it is essential

As essential to our spiritual lives as breathing is to our physical lives.

And since it is essential, we as kingdom-oriented people must prioritize God-oriented prayer.

[Bridge Question] How do we pray?

Pray with God-oriented…

Motivation (5-6) [12:00]

Jesus contrasts the right motivation for prayer with the wrong motivation for prayer

v. 5 - Do not be like the hypocrites

Why?

v. 5 - They pray to be seen

Me-oriented prayer is motivated by visibility.

And Jesus says that if that’s what you want, that is all you will get - “They have received their reward.”

Hypocrisy - Play-actor

Why?

Because you are claiming to love God by praying, but what you really love it yourself.

Instead, when we are God-oriented, not self-oriented, we pray, not for visibility, but for intimacy.

v. 6 - Secret

Not only praying in secret

Think about it: When you pray alone in a room, it is obvious that you are praying because you want to be with God

There is no other audience to notice

And so what is the reward? You get to be with God

v. 6b - Contrasting with v. 5b

It is a hard reality to face, but the measure of your faith can be seen in your private prayer life.

If I can be so bold, my desire for God is directly displayed in the amount that I pray to him

When I pray only when I have to in public or when I pray only when the circumstances are not the way I want them to be, I reveal that the nature of my faith is lacking in love for God and a desire for intimacy with him

But when I pray regularly and intentionally, whether in public or private, it reveals that the nature of my faith is one of desiring to be with God

So let me ask you: what does your prayer life say about what really motivates you? And if you survey your life and you realize that you are more like the hypocrite in v. 5 than the one who seeks intimacy in v. 6, use this moment right now as an opportunity to pray

And to ask God to grow you in love for him and a desire for intimacy with him

Because God-oriented prayer is motivated by intimacy, not visibility.

And when we are motivated by intimacy with God, we will pray more.

Second, we pray with God-oriented…

Security (7-8) [17:00]

Illustration - Planning for a hard conversation in which you will make a big ask

Making sure you frame it just right so they say yes

Too often that is how we view God

That he is reluctant to listen to us or to respond to us and if we will just use the right words or pray long enough or hard enough then he will finally hear us

When this is our view of God, One of two things will happen:

I will pray with insecurity, worrying that I didn’t do it just right or didn’t say just the right words

Or, more likely, I won’t pray at all

If I have to convince God to listen to me, that means he doesn’t want to listen to me

But the pagan religions in Jesus day did believe that they had to convince the gods to listen to them

v. 7 - Gentiles - many words

Jesus says - Do not be like that

Emphatic negative in greek - Never do that!

Why?

Because that is not what God is like!

Instead, Matthew 6:8 “… For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

God is not a distant, capricious, aloof, disinterested deity who groans whenever you come to him.

He is a good father who cares for his children and who already knows what you need

You don’t have to convince him

You don’t have to earn his favor

If you follow Jesus by faith, that means you are a child of God, And because Jesus has paid the penalty of our sins and earned for us God’s favor, we can enter his presence with confidence knowing that he loves us, knows us, and hears us

I love the way one commentator puts it: “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.”

You see, our prayer life is simply the outworking of our belief about what God is like

And if I believe he doesn’t want to hear from me, I won’t go to him

But if I believe he does want to hear from me, I will go to him with confidence.

I would encourage you to consider for a moment, what keeps you from praying?

It is likely because of something wrong in your view of God, something wrong in of yourself, or something wrong in your view of how you and God relate to one another

But when we let God tell us who he is through his word and we respond accordingly, we can pray with confidence and security, knowing he loves us, knows us, and hears us.

Third element of God-oriented prayer, pray with God-oriented…

Alignment (9-13)[22:00]

v. 9 - “Then” - Logical inference

Who God is from v. 8 should dive how we pray in v. 9

In v. 8 Jesus showed how a wrong idea of God leads to a wrong approach to prayer

Who God is should serve to realign our thoughts

Car - Alignment - Out of alignment drifts

When our heart is out of alignment, we drift

We think things that are not true, We live in ways that are out of step with God, And it affects the way that we pray

We then pray with the wrong focus, the wrong assumptions, and the wrong expectations - We drift into me-oriented prayers

And what we need in those moments is to realign our thoughts to what God says so that we can prioritize God-oriented prayers

And Jesus shows us how to get back into alignment as we pray

Jesus says “pray like this” - In this manner

Often this section of scripture that is known as the Lord’s prayer is treated as a script to follow into repeat verbatim

And there is certainly a time and a place for the memorization and recitation of prayers in scripture

But Jesus intention is not to give us a script to follow

He is going to make a series of statements that are meant to give us a pattern or a framework that prompts us to reflect on truth and guide us as we pray

So we are going to call these “Realignment Reflections” - Statements from Jesus that we should reflect on that will impact how we pray

Realignment Reflections:

Who is God?

When I pray, I should first reflect on who God is and come to him accordingly

“Our Father in heaven”

When we are out of alignment… we pray based on our own thoughts about God

When we are in alignment, we pray based on what God says about himself

Father - Near

In Heaven - Over all

When I pray by starting with who God is, it aligns my mind and heart to the truth and I pray accordingly.

What does God deserve?

“Hallowed be your name”

Hallowed - Holy

This is a reminder to see God as set apart, not as common.

Words/life

When I reflect on what God deserves from me, he deserves for me to honor him with my words and my life and so that impacts what I pray about, what I ask for, and how I pray to him.

What does God desire?

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” This is essentially a way of saying, “God, let things be the way you want them to be. May the things in my life serve your purposes not my own.”

It is not God's responsibility to give you and I the life we want. What God has promised is that you and I are given the life we were made for.

Prayer is not a way of manifesting the realities that you crave

It is a way of bringing our desires in line with God’s desires

And when I reflect on God’s reign and God’s will, it will cause me to pray for those things that are in line with what he wants, even if it means that my kingdom and my will need to be put to death.

Where am I in need?

“Give us this day our daily bread”

Because prayer is a response to God that communicates our dependence on him, we should pray in utter dependence on God to provide for the things that we need

But the keyword is need

As I reflect on who God is, what God deserves, and what God desires, I will be able to think more clearly about what I actually need in this life versus what things are just wants

And God will provide for everyone of our needs

So if I need it, he’ll provide it

If he doesn’t provide it, it means I don’t need it

Where am I broken?

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

The word debts here is referring, not to monetary debt, but to offense

A moral debt

“Forgive us for how we have a offended you as we forgive those who have offended us”

Because of the brokenness of our lives through the ongoing effects of sin, we offend God and one another constantly

We live in conflict with God and conflict with one another because of sin.

But God in his mercy made a way for us to be forgiven:

Jesus Christ lived perfect obedience to the command of God,

perfectly embodying a life of righteousness and obedience,

and died on the cross as a perfect substitutionary sacrifice to pay for all of the ways we have offended God,

canceling the record of debt that stood against us

So we can ask God to forgive us our offenses against him and he will.

And because he forgives me, I also can forgive others for their offenses against me

Prayer should always prompt us to reflect on how we have sinned against God so that we can confess our sins

It should also prompt us to reflect on how we can show others the same mercy God has shown us

If we are a people who are forgiven, we should be a people who forgive.

Where am I weak?

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

This is not saying that God would otherwise lead us into temptation

James makes a very clear in James 1 That God does not tempt us with evil.

So what does Jesus mean here?

If prayer is the recognition of our dependence on God, then as we pray we are submitting to his leading in our lives.

However, we know very well where we we are prone to give in to temptation

And we also can say that God knows far better than we do where we are prone to give in to temptation

So to say “lead us not into temptation” is a way of saying, “God, as I live today lead me away from those things that would tempt me to sin against you.”

You know where I am weak and you know that if I see that person or if I go down that road or if I walk into that store or if I sit down at that computer, I will be tempted

So give me the strength to not go those places

Give me the strength to not start that conversation

Lead me away from temptation and toward obedience

And by leading me toward obedience, I will be delivered from the evil that would seek to make me stumble in sin.

I want you to notice… the first three statements are about God and the second three statements are about us

One line is about our physical needs (daily bread), one line is about our relational needs (as we forgive our debtors), and one line is about our spiritual needs (lead us not into temptation).

Our prayer life should attuned to every aspect of our being all in response to who God is.

We should not be out of balance in our prayer life, but should intentionally consider how who God is and how we relate to impacts our physical, spiritual, and relational lives.

And the more that we reflect on these instructions of how to pray, the more our prayers will be prayed with God-oriented alignment

So we pray with God-oriented:

Motivation

Security

Alignment

Lastly, pray with God-oriented

Accountability (14-15)[36:00]

Matthew 6:14–15 “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.”

What’s He saying? If we ask God for forgiveness but refuse to forgive others, we reveal that we don’t truly understand the mercy we’ve been shown.

That is the whole point of the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matt. 18

That’s why Jesus says that refusal to forgive means we remain unforgiven—it reveals we’ve never received his grace to begin with.

To refuse forgiveness is to deny the grace of God in your own life and to take his place as judge.

And in this way, we see that our prayers hold us accountable

I can’t ask God for something that I am unwilling to give to another

If I ask for forgiveness, I must be willing to forgive

If I ask for Mercy, I must be willing to show mercy

If I ask for Grace, I must be willing to show Grace

If I ask for provision, I must be willing to provide for others

If I ask for love, I must be willing to love

If I ask for comfort, I must be willing to comfort

It would be pure hypocrisy for me to go to God and ask him for something and then turn and deny it to someone who would ask of me that same thing

But the flip side is also true

As I come to God in prayer and I ask him for forgiveness and I then turn and forgive others, it reveals that I truly belong to him

Because he is changing me to look more like him

I heard one pastor say, “You are never more like God than when you forgive.”

May we be a people who forgive, because we are a people who are forgiven.

When I pray God-oriented prayer, I am prompted to do for others what I ask God to do for me.

[CONCLUSION]

Just because prayer is essential for us does not mean that prayer is easy.

In fact, I can think of nothing harder to do in the Christian life than prayer

It is the most essential part of our lives as believers and it is simultaneously the most difficult thing for us to do.

Why?

Because it requires us to be completely honest about just how dependent we are on God

And our pride would convince us that we can do it ourselves.

But the truth is that we are desperately dependent on God every moment, so there is nothing more important for our Christian lives than prayer.

Tim Keller, in his book on prayer, writes this about the importance of prayer:

“Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. It is also the main way we experience deep change-the reordering of our loves. Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life. We must learn to pray…”

Church family, we must be a church that prays.

If we are to be Gospel people who live for God’s kingdom, on God’s mission, for God’s glory

If we are a people who have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, reconciled to God in Christ, and sent into the world as ambassadors for Christ

We will need to be dependent on God

We will need to delight in God

We will need to be changed by God

And the only way for that to be true of us is if we come to him in prayer.

Because kingdom-oriented people prioritize God-oriented prayer.

Amen.

[40:00]